
Class Jjl±L 

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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



History of Fall River 
massachusetts 



COMPILED FOR THE 

COTTON CENTENNIAL 

by Henry M. Fenner 
•i 

under the direction of the 

Historical Committee 

of the Merchants Association 



EDWARD S. ADAMS, Chairman 
GEORGE H. EDDY LEONTINE LINCOLN 

BENJAMIN BUFFINTON PHILIP D. BORDEN 

WILLIAM T. HENRY JOHN J. McDONOUGH 



Fall River Merchants Association 
1911 



fa 



Copyright, 1911, 

By Merchants Association. 

Published May, 1911. 



FALLRJVERLOOMSUP 

COTTON CENTENNIAL 

CARNIVAL 



The Munroe Press, Fall River, Massachusetts. 



The observance of the one hundredth anniversary of the 
beginning of cotton manufacturing in Fall River has seemed 
to the Merchants Association a fitting occasion for the publica- 
tion of a concise history of the community. Its historical 
committee has therefore prepared the pages which follow, in 
the hope of making the history of the city better known by its 
citizens and the thousands of visitors within its gates, as well 
as by many others to whom copies may be sent by friends. 

The book has been prepared and published in less than 
two months, and has of necessity been made brief. A strong 
effort has, however, been made to secure accuracy, and to 
include all the principal facts in connection with the city's 
development. The original spelling of names has been retained 
in many cases, and incidents of interest have in some instances 
been interwoven. 

The committee hopes that its work may be the basis of a 
more extensive history of Fall River. The story of its growth 
is an inspiration to greater things, and deserves to be more 
generally known. 



F 



7 ALL RIVER, in population the third city of the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts, situated in the southeasterly 
section of the state, is in North Latitude 41° -42'-04"+ 
and W. Longitude 71° -09'- 20" +. The distance in a direct 
line from the State House in Boston to the City Hall in Fall 
River being 45.58 miles. 

The city is located on the easterly shore of Mount Hope 
Bay and Taunton River, bounded northerly by Freetown, 
easterly by Freetown, Dartmouth and Westport, southerly by 
Dartmouth, Westport and Tiverton, R. I., westerly by Tiver- 
ton, R. I. and the channel of Mount Hope Bay and Taunton 
River. Within these limits there is included an area of nearly 
41 square miles, consisting of approximately 33.94 miles of 
land, 4.43 miles of fresh water and 2.5 miles of salt water. 
Its extreme length approximates 11 miles and its width 1{ 
miles. Its shape is very irregular and somewhat peculiar, 
as seen in the illustration. 

A study of the drawing will explain the cause of the 
long continued controversy as to the location of the "centre 
of Fall River." 

From the water front the rise is, as a rule, abrupt. South 
Main street in front of City Hall (less than one-half mile from 
the shore) is at an elevation 119 feet above mean high water 
in Taunton River. Townsend Hill (so-called) on the easterly 
side of South Main Street near the Rhode Island Line, (less 
than three-fourths of a mile from the shore) has an elevation 
of 272 feet. Highland Avenue at its junction with New 
Boston Road is at an elevation of 254 feet. 

The highest point within the city limits is Copicut Hill, 
about 5 miles northeasterly from City Hall, where an elevation 
of 355 feet is reached. 

The city's water supply, North WatuppaPond, having an 
area of 2.82 square miles and an extreme depth of 27 feet, is 
one of the best in the State, judged both as to quantity and 
quality. The water shed of the pond (including the area of 



the pond itself) is 11.444 square miles. Its capacity at full 
pond is 7,199,907,200 Gallons. At 5 feet below full pond (a 
depth approximated but once since the installation of the 
water works) its capacity is 4,488,189,500 Gallons. From 
these figures it would appear that danger of a water famine 
is very remote. 



SWANSEA - 



FREETOWN 




The sewerage of the city is, as a whole, on the ' 'Combined 
System," that is, the sewers are planned to care for storm 
water as well as for domestic sewage. There are, however, 



limited areas in which separate systems are maintained, the 
object being to furnish as much of the storm water as is 
possible for use by the mills along Quequechan River. 

Underlying much of the city are granite ledges from 
which material for construction of buildings, making of street 
curbing, paving, etc., is obtained. While this is a valuable 
asset for the city, it is not an unmixed blessing, as this same 
granite accounts for what, to some, appears to be an unreason- 
able cost of sewers, water works, and other lines of work re- 
quiring the building of underground structures. 

The city has one natural curiosity of considerable interest, 
the "Rolling Rock" on County street, referred to in old 
bounds as "The Goose-nesting Rock." It is a boulder of 
coarse conglomerate, resting on a ledge of granite, and show- 
ing that it was brought to its present position by diluvial 
action. It was so finely balanced that until recent years it 
could be easily moved by one hand, and by using both hands 
could be made to oscillate two or three inches at the top. It 
is eight feet thick, with a horizontal circumference of 58 feet. 
Its estimated weight is 140 tons. 



Fall River to-day is a beautifully situated city of approxi- 
mately 120,000 inhabitants. It is a busy, prosperous and 
growing community, which in half a century has risen, 
through its own efforts from a little town of about 13,000 
people to its present prominence. Its citizens are justly 
proud of it and of its growth, and, inspired by what they 
have done, look forward with confidence to even greater 
achievements. 

It is known as the largest cotton manufacturing center 
in the United States, and its more than 100 mills, containing 
nearly 4,000,000 spindles, give employment to 35,000 persons. 
Its factories use about 450,000 bales of cotton a year, or 9,000 
a week, from which are produced more than a thousand 
million yards of cloth in a year, or three and a half million 
yards each working day. Reduced to miles, this means 1900 
miles of cloth a day, or three miles a minute. 

But it is not alone of the quantity of its product that the 



city boasts. It produces many medium weight goods to meet 
the various demands of the market, as well as twills, sateens 
and curtains, and its newer mills have almost exclusively 
been designed for the making of fine goods, and more and 
more of the finest fabrics are being manufactured each year; 
also fine ginghams, colored yarns, sewing thread, Marseilles 
quilts and cloths with finishes of linen and silk. 

It has bleacheries and print works, one of the latter, the 
American Printing Company, the largest in the United States, 
with an extensive and increasing export trade. It has plants 
for the manufacture of its own machinery, plants for the 
utilization of the waste cotton in the manufacture of rope, 
twine, mops and " comforters" and plants for the making of 
cotton bags and narrow fabrics. It has, among others, the 
largest hat manufacturing establishment in the country, and 
also an extensive piano factory. 

Though in recent years large numbers have come here 
from foreign lands, the best of order is maintained. The 
newcomers are acquiring homes of their own and doing their 
part in the upbuilding of the city. 

The community is well policed and well lighted. It main- 
tains an efficient fire department, and the annual loss by fire 
is comparatively small. Its schools are modern, housed in 
commodious, beautiful and well arranged structures. The 
system is supplemented by a large and well equipped textile 
school. It has a public library of 86,000 volumes, in a new 
and centrally located building, with 22,834 cardholders and an 
annual circulation of more than 200,000 volumes. 

It has parks and playgrounds of more than 100 acres, 
situated in various parts of the city, 73 miles of sewers and 
16o miles of paved streets. 

Its situation near the coast gives it an excellent climate. 
Severe storms are almost unknown. Its winters are not 
severe, and its summers are cool. From the higher parts of 
the city, views of marked beauty are obtainable over the 
adjoining bay and rivers and across the farming lands on the 
west side of the river, and on clear days Providence can be 
seen in the distance. Many of the sunsets are almost unsur- 
passed. 



It has charming residential sections, scores of churches, 
and numerous charitable institutions, housed in most attrac- 
tive buildings, of which the Boys' Club, the Young Men's 
Christian Association, the Women's Union, the Union and 
Ste. Anne's Hospitals, the Children's Home, the St. Joseph's 
and St. Vincent's orphanages, the Home for Aged People 
and the Bishop Stang Day Nursery are examples. 

Many of its stores are large, and well arranged and 
compare favorably with those in other cities. Its Merchants 
Association has a large and active membership, and has done 
much for the city. 

There are four national banks, with a combined capital 
of $2,200,000 and deposits in excess of $6,000,000, a trust 
company with deposits of more than $2,000,000, four savings 
banks that hold nearly $23,000,000 for 55,000 depositors, 
and four co-operative banks, whose assets are in excess 
of $2,000,000. 

Four daily newspapers are published here, the Evening 
News, established as a weekly in 1845 and as a daily in 1859, 
the Herald, started in 1872, the Globe, in 1885 and L'lnde- 
pendant, printed in French, and founded in 1885. There are 
also two weeklies, issued in Portuguese, called As Novidades 
and O Amigo do Poro. 

The city has excellent transportation facilities, both by 
rail and water. It has deep water to its wharves and regular 
lines of steamers to New York, Philadelphia and Providence, 
including the famous Fall River Line, whose magnificent 
fleet is well and favorably known to the travelling public. 

It has a modern street railway system, with suburban 
roads to Providence, Taunton, New Bedford and Newport, 
and excellent train and electric car service to these and other 
cities. 

Its assessed valuation in 1910 was $92,488,520, and its 
tax rate, which includes all charges, except in the case of 
granolithic sidewalks, which are put in on application of 
abutting owners, was $18.70 per thousand. 



PURCHASE AND SETTLEMENT 

The territory included in the city of Fall River was 
formerly a part of the colony of Plymouth, and remained so 
until that colony was united with Massachusetts in 1692. 
Like the remainder of New England, it was inhabited by 
Indian tribes, and, until after King Philip's war in 1676, when 
the spirit of the Indians in this section was finally broken and 
many of them exterminated, there were but very few, if any, 
white settlers. 

The coast of North America had been skirted as early as 
1498, six years after the discovery by Columbus, by Sebastian 
Cabot, a fact on which the English based their title. Much 
earlier, however, this immediate section had probably been 
visited by the Northmen, whose sagas relate that in 1008 a 
party led by Thorfinn had come up the Sagkonate, now 
Seaconnet river and spent the winter on Mount Hope Bay, 
where they traded with the natives. Whether they placed 
the inscriptions on the rock at Dighton is a question which in 
all probability will never be satisfactorily answered. Another 
early visitor was a Florentine, Joseph Verrazzano, who was 
under the patronage of the French king, Francis I, and who, 
with a party of 50 men, in the ship Dauphin, is said to have 
entered Narragansett Bay in 1524 and remained for 15 days. 

The natives who dwelt in this vicinity were the Pocassets, 
a sub-tribe of the Wampanoags, and a part of the great 
Algonquin nation. At the time of the Plymouth settlement, 
Massasoit, the father of King Philip, otherwise known as 
Metacomet, was sachem of the Wampanoags, and Corbitant 
of the Pocassets. Corbitant's principal place of residence 
was at Mattapoisett, now Gardner's Neck, in Swansea. He 
was not friendly to the whites, but was kept in check by 
Massasoit, and on his death in 1624 was succeeded by his 
daughter, Weetamoe, who was drowned in 1676 while cross- 
ing the Tehticut, now the Taunton river, at Slade's Ferry. 
She was the wife of Wamsutta, an elder brother of Philip. 

Of other more familiar Indian names, Annawan was one 
of Philip's captains, Canonicus, the chief of the Narragan setts, 
who dwelt on the west side of the bay which bears their name, 



Montaup, the name of Mount Hope, Quequechan, signifying 
"Falling Water ", the title of the stream which flows through 
the center of the present city, Quequeteant, the name of the 
neighborhood adjoining the Quequechan, Watuppa the name 
of the ponds still known by the same designation. Sagkonate 
was the Indian name for what is now Little Compton and 
Sagamore was the title of a chief. Tecumseh was the head of 
an Indian tribe in the West. 

The Wampanoags appear to have been on the whole a 
superior race. They were long friendly to the whites and 
hospitable. They are described as having the familiar cinna- 
mon colored skin, long black, coarse hair, scanty beard, high 
cheek bones, small, deep-set eyes, a broad nose, protuberant 
lips and a square, depressed forehead. They were tall, supple, 
graceful, agile, and able, it is said, to run 80 or 100 miles a day 
and back the next, but they were unequal to continuous labor. 
They had the same immobility of countenance that is character- 
istic of all red men, and seldom wept or smiled. The deaf, the 
blind and the lame were seldom seen; these were too burden- 
some to the others to be allowed to live. As a rule, an Indian 
had but one wife. The women did the drudgery, while the 
men hunted and fished. 

Their clothing in winter consisted of skins of deer or other 
wild animals; in summer, when less was required, the men wore 
only a piece of deer skin about their waists. Moccasins were 
of thin deer skin or moose hide, according to the season. Paint 
and feathers were their adornment, combined with rings, 
bracelets and necklaces. 

Fish, game, nuts, berries and roots, were their principal 
food. Meat could be preserved only by smoking, as they had 
no salt. With the aid of but a single tool, a hoe made of a 
clamshell or bone fastened on the end of a stick, they culti- 
vated the soil and raised Indian corn, squashes, pumpkins, 
beans and a kind of sunflower, the root of which pleased their 
taste. Tobacco was also cultivated for smoking. The potato 
was unknown, and the only domestic animal was the dog. 
They had no poultry. 

The following description of an Indian village in New Eng- 
land at this time is taken from a recent work on King Philip's 
war by Ellis and Morris: 



"Arranged around a center left open for the performance 
of the village games and ceremonies, were the wigwams, con- 
structed of saplings, which, set firmly in the ground and bent 
together, were fastened at the top and covered with bark or 
mats. Some were cone-shaped, holding only a single family, 
while others, resembling a covered arbor, varied in length from 
20 to 100 feet. 

The wigwams were pitched closely together, and the 
village seldom occupied more than from three to four acres. 
Within the wigwams, and arranged around the walls, were 
the woven baskets that held the corn, stone or earthen 
household utensils, the pails and the low raised bunks covered 
with boughs and skins. In the center blazed the fires, which, 
either for the purpose of cooking or for warmth, were kept 
constantly alight, and the smoke from which found its way 
skyward through a hole in the roof." 

Their axes and most of their household utensils were of 
stone, as were the bowls of their long pipes. Their fish lines 
were of twisted fibres of the dogbane or of sinews of the 
deer, the hooks, of sharpened bones of fishes or birds. 
Arrows were tipped with bone, claws of the larger birds, or 
flint. Spears were made in the same way. The tomahawk 
was a wooden club, some two feet long, with a large knob at 
the end. The money known as wampum was of small round 
beads made of shells, drilled so that they could be strung. A 
species of football, quoits, wrestling and dancing, combined 
with gambling, fishing and the hunt, furnished amusement. 
Their language was guttural, with words of great length. 

Some corn was preserved for the winter by burying it in 
the ground, under a covering of bark, and some basketry and 
pottery were made, but on the whole they were slothful and 
improvident. After the coming of the whites they obtained 
some of the articles of civilization, which made their lives 
easier, but from them they also secured liquor, which they 
had not known before. 

This last fact made it early necessary for the colony of 
Massachusetts Bay to pass stringent regulations forbidding 
the sale of intoxicants to the natives and a penalty of 40 
shillings was provided for every pint sold or delivered, 



"except in cases of sudden exigent, faintness, or sickness, 
not to exceed two drams. * ' An Indian found drunk was to 
be fined five shillings or openly whipped. Similar legislation 
was passed by the Plymouth colony, which in 1658, forbade, 
on penalty of a fine of ten shillings, the sale of liquor to 
Indians, and directed that Indians found drunk should be set 
in the stocks, and should be required to pay charges of two 

shillings, six pence. 

The first land bought from the natives was known as the 
Freemen's Purchase, and was secured under a grant made 
by the general court of Plymouth to 26 residents of that 
town in 1656. The deed was dated April 2, 1659 and signed 
by Wamsutta and Weetamoe, or Tattapanum, his wife. It 
conveyed all the land with one small exception, between the 
Quequechan river and the present northern boundry of Free- 
town, a distance of eight or nine miles, and extending back 
from the Taunton river about four miles. In other words, it 
included all of what is now Fall River north of the line of 
Bedford street, and all of Freetown. The price paid was 20 
coats, two rugs, two iron pots, two kettles and one little 
kettle eight pairs of shoes, six pairs of stockings, one dozen 
hoes one dozen hatchets, two yards of broadcloth and the 
satisfaction of a debt from Wamsutta to John Barns. 

With reference to the price paid for this large tract ot 
land, the following quotation from G. E. Ellis is in point: 

"When we read of the earliest so-called 'deeds by which 
the English colonists obtained from the sachems wide spaces 
of territory on the consideration of a few tools, hatchets, 
kettles or yards of cloth, we naturally regard the transaction 
as simply illustrating the white man's rapacity and cunning 
in tricking the simplicity of the savage. But we may be sure 
that in many such cases the Indian secured what was to him 
a full equivalent for that with which he parted. For, as the 
whites soon learned by experience, the savages supposed that 
in such transactions they were not alienating the absolute 
ownership of their lands, but only covenanting for the right of 
joint occupancy with the English. And then the coveted tools 
or implements obtained by them represented a value and a use 
not measurable by any reach of wild territory. A metal 



kettle, a spear, a knife, a hatchet transformed the whole life 
of a savage. A blanket was for him a whole wardrobe. 
When he came to be the possessor of firearms, having regarded 
himself the equal of the white man, he at once became his 
superior.' ' 

The purchasers were Captain James Cudworth, Josiah 
Winslow, Sr., Constant Southworth, John Barns, John Tesdale, 
Humphrey Turner, Walter Hatch, Samuel House, Samuel Jack- 
son, John Daman, Timothy Hatherly, Timothy Foster, Thomas 
Southworth, George Watson, Nathaniel Morton, Richard 
Moore, Edmund Chandler, Samuel Nash, Henry Howland, 
Ralph Partridge, Love Brewster, William Paybody, Christo- 
pher Wadsworth, Kenelme Winslow, Thomas Bowen and John 
Waterman. The deed was later confirmed by the Plymouth 
government, and the lots divided among the purchasers in 26 
shares, each with a frontage of about 100 rods on the river 
and running back to the easterly bound. Timothy Foster had 
the lot nearest the Quequechan and Humphrey Turner the 
next. Beyond him in order were Wadsworth, Chandler, House, 
Howland and Watson. 

Matthew Boomer was probably the first settler in this 
tract, having bought a part of the fourth lot in March, 1676, 
and erected a dwelling near the corner of North Main and 
Brownell streets soon after. John Read came from Newport, 
and in 1686 was living where St. Joseph's church stands. 
George Lawton, Samuel Gardner of Newport, Henry Howland 
of Duxbury, Robert Durfee, Hugh Woodberee and William 
Chase also settled here soon after King Philip's war. After 
the inhabitants had been established as a township under the 
name of Freetown by act of the Plymouth colony in July, 1683, 
Gardner was made town clerk and later purchased what is now 
known as Gardner's Neck at South Swansea. 

The land south of the Freeman's Purchase, including the 
present town of Tiverton, and extending back from the bay 
four to six miles, with certain exceptions of small tracts previ- 
ously sold, was conveyed from the Plymouth government 
March 5, 1679-80, in consideration of 1100 pounds, English 
money, to Edward Gray of Plymouth, Nathaniel Thomas of 
Marshfield, Christopher Almy, Job Almy and Thomas Waite of 

10 



Portsmouth and Benjamin Church, Daniel Wilcox and William 
Manchester of Puncatest. 

The ' ' mill right ' ' a strip of land about 30 rods wide along 
the Quequechan river extending back from the bay one mile 
was held in common and sold in shares. Several divisions 
were made of the remainder. The first was in 1682-3, when 
the so-called "great lots" were laid out, in most cases 52 rods 
wide and running back one mile from the bay to what is now 
Plymouth avenue, formerly called Eight Rod Way. Edward 
Gray was the first individual owner of lots one and two and 
William Manchester of number three. Later the land between 
Plymouth avenue, the Watuppa pond and the Quequechan 
river was divided into "six-score acre lots" and in 1697 a 
third division took place. 

The tract which also included land east of the Freeman's 
Purchase, was known as the Pocasset Purchase and was under 
the government of Plymouth till March 2, 1692, when it, with 
Puncatest, was incorporated by the state of Massachusetts 
as the town of Tiverton. The original freemen of the town 
were Major Church, John Pearce, John Cook, Gersham 
Woodle, Richard Borden, Christopher Almy, Thomas Cory, 
Stephen Manchester, Joseph Wanton, Forbes Manchester, 
Daniel Howland, Edward Gray, Edward Briggs, William 
Manchester, Amos Sheffield, Daniel Wilcox, Edward Colby, 
Joseph Tabor, David Lake, Thomas Waite, Joseph Tallman, 
John Briggs, John Cooke, William Almy, and John Cooke,Jr. 
A question as to the location of the boundary line between 
Freetown and Tiverton, (that being the line between the 
Freeman and Pocasset purchases,) arose early in the eighteenth 
century, owing to indefiniteness in the Plymouth and Rhode 
Island charters, and a committee consisting of Job Winslow, 
Josiah Winslow, Robert Durfee, and Henry Brightman was 
chosen to represent the proprietors of Freetown, and Christo- 
pher Almy, Samuel Little, and Richard Borden to represent 
those of Tiverton. 

This committee reported and fixed the line as follows: 
" Beginning at a cleft rock on the East side of the country 
road near the Fall River, said rock being the bounds of the 
Freeman's first lot and from said rock ranging southwest and 



11 



by West to the river at the westerly side of the country road, 
and from thence the river to be the bounds westerly unto 
Taunton river, and from the aforesaid rock ranging East 
South East four miles into the woods by a range of marked 
trees unto a heap of stones with several trees marked about it 
and from said heap of stones ranging Northeast and by North 
one degree northerly by a range of marked trees unto a stone 
set into the ground with other stones laid about it being the 
head of the four mile line from Stacy's Creek. Said range to 
extend until it meet with Middleboro town bounds. These 
aforesaid boundaries thus run and settled we do mutually agree 
shall be the perpetual bounds between the land of the aforesaid 
proprietors of Freetown and the proprietors of Tiverton/' 

This report was signed by all of the committee above 
named save Job Winslow, and was approved by act of the 
general court or assembly for his Majesty's province of the 
Massachusetts Bay in New England May 29, 1700. 

The water power of the Quequechan had been recognized 
as of special value when the strip along its border was set 
aside as a "mill right," and Col. Benjamin Church and his 
brother Caleb, who had purchased a large part, erected a saw 
mill there before 1691. A few years later a grist mill and a 
fulling mill, the latter for cleansing home-grown wool prepara- 
tory to spinning and "fulling " or thickening the cloth, were 
erected on the west side of Main street, after the stream had 
been dammed. About 1714 the Churchs sold their interest 
to Richard and Joseph Borden, who thus secured control of the 
water power, which was retained in their family till the erec- 
tion of the Troy mill and the Fall River manufactory in 1813. 
Prior to the Revolution another saw mill and a grist mill were 
erected at the foot of the hill, near the present No. 7 mill of 
the Fall River Iron Works Company. 

Early in the century, also, a tannery was established by 
John Read on what is now called French's hill, where the 
Westport Mfg. Co.'s storehouse now stands. This was sold 
in 1801 by his heirs to Enoch French, who carried on business 
here till about 1840, and from whom the hill took its name. 

Another tan yard stood on Bedford street, at the foot of 
Rock, where it was started in 1810 and carried on for many 



12 



years by Edmund Chase and his son, Edmund Chase, Jr., and 
discontinued in 1888. 

The principal occupation was farming, though many small 
vessels were built and owned here, which gave employment to 
a considerable number of the citizens. The population was 
small, and a census of Freetown in 1765 showed but 1,492 
inhabitants. In 1776 this had grown to 1,901 and in 1792 to 
2,202. Tiverton about 1750 had 1,040 inhabitants, of whom 
842 were whites, 99 negroes and 99 Indians. 

The Friends were the largest religious denomination, with 
a meeting house erected in 1714, not far from the present 
location of the Crystal Spring Bleachery. The law of the 
state, nevertheless, required the town to have a Congrega- 
tional minister, and this was a frequent topic of discussion at 
town meetings. Little sympathy was felt, apparently, with 
the statute, for the town was frequently indicted for not com- 
plying. The minister was at times also the school teacher, and, 
in fact, the first mention of schools in the Freetown records is 
in 1702, when Robert Durfee was authorized to secure a man 
to dispense the gospel and teach the children reading and 
writing. School houses first appear in the records in 1722 
when two buildings were ordered erected. In 1727 a school 
building was authorized to be built, 18 feet by 14. In 1791 the 
town was divided into seven school districts and new buildings 
erected. That in the center was but 24x20. A Congregational 
meeting house had been built, in 1714, on the easterly side of 
the main road a few hundred feet south of the present line 
between Freetown and Fall River. It was 26x36 and was 18 
feet between joints. The General Court contributed 20 pounds 
to the cost. The town stocks, erected in 1690, for the punish- 
ment of minor offenses, stood near. 

Most of the Indians had met death in King Philip's War 
or had fled from the section, and the few that remained were 
friendly to the whites. Land for them was set aside on 
Stafford road in 1704, but a few years later they were trans- 
ferred at their request to the reservation on the east side of 
the pond, called Indian Reservation. Here, however, through 
removal and intermarriage, their numbers rapidly decreased, 
until at the present time but one family remains on the reser- 
vation. 



13 



Just before the Revolution, Tory sentiment was strong", 
and at a town meeting on Jan. 26, 1774, resolutions were 
adopted severely condemning the town of Boston for allowing 
the destruction of tea in its harbor, and declaring that the 
town of Freetown, "abhorred, detested and forever bore 
testimony against such acts," as "riotous and mobish pro- 
ceedings." By the late summer, however, the feeling had 
changed, and at a town meeting on September 19, delegates 
were selected to confer at Taunton with representatives of 
the other towns as to "measures proper" in the situation. 
At the meeting held in Taunton Sept. 28, resolutions were 
unanimously adopted that those present were " determined at 
the risk of their fortunes and their lives to defend their natural 
and compacted rights" and to "oppose to their utmost all 
illegal and unconstitutional measures which have been or 
hereafter may be adopted by the British Parliament or the 
British Ministry. ' ' Thirty-one men from Freetown responded 
to the Lexington alarm on April 19, 1775. 

On May 10, 1775, the town voted to care for the families 
of poor soldiers. In March 1776, a committee of correspond- 
ence, inspection and safety was elected and boats were ordered 
built " To cross the river in, if our enemies should attack our 
friends on the opposite shore." At a town meeting July 15, 
1776, strong resolutions were adopted declaring that loyalty 
to the king was treason against the people of this country and 
that ' 'We are ready with our Lives and fortunes to support the 
General Congress in Declaring the united American Colonies 
free and independent of Greate Britain." The town approved 
the articles of confederation Feb. 10, 1777. 

Colonel Joseph Durfee, who had taken an active part in 
the war, and who was afterwards to start the first cotton mill 
here, formed a home guard in the fall of 1777. Quarters 
were secured in a store near the shore, where the men met 
every day and called the roll, and sentinels were placed each 
night, to give an alarm, in case of the approach of the British, 
who then held the south end of the island of Rhode Island. 

On Sunday morning, May 25, 1778, boats were discovered 
silently and cautiously approaching the shore. They were 
challenged but returned no answer, and one of the guard, 

14 



Samuel Reed, then fired upon them. This gave the alarm, 
and the whole neighborhood was soon in arms. 

Col. Durfee stationed his men behind a stone wall and 
kept up a constant fire on the British until the latter brought 
their cannon to bear. The Americans retreated slowly to 
Main street, near the present location of city hall. Here a 
stand was made, and the enemy so roughly handled that they 
soon retreated, leaving behind them one dead and another 
dying, others wounded were carried with them. 

The attacking force numbered about 150, and was com- 
manded by Major Ayres. When they landed they set fire to 
the house of Thomas Borden, near the northeast corner of 
Pond and Anawan streets, and also to his saw mill and grist 
mill near the foot of the stream. On their retreat they fired 
the house and other buildings of Richard Borden, then an aged 
man, and took him prisoner. As they made their way down 
the bay the Americans continued to pour in a musket fire on 
them, and one British soldier was killed in the boats. Mr. 
Borden was released on parole after a few days. 

In commemoration of this engagement Quequechan Chap- 
ter, D. A. R., placed a bronze tablet on the southwest corner 
of City Hall on May 25, 1899. 



FALL RIVER A TOWN 

After the Revolution, the town of Freetown grew steadily, 
and in 1800 had attained a population of 2,535. The residents 
of the southern part were now pressing to be set off as a 
separate community. Their chief argument, as set forth in a 
petition to the legislature dated Jan. 12, 1802, and signed by 
Thomas Borden and 155 others, was that they were nearly 
eight miles from the town meeting house at the north end of 
Freetown, that almost all of them were seafarers or trades- 
men, who had no horses, thus making it difficult to attend 
meetings, that the three principal settlements were at the 
points of a triangle, and that owing to the long swamp which 
ran through the center of the town, no location for a town 
house equally convenient for all was possible. 

15 



At a town meeting on Feb. 4, 1802, a unanimous vote 
against division was adopted, but later reconsidered and a 
committee appointed to present a plan for division. That 
committee suggested a line about where the boundary was 
subsequently established, and the report was accepted. 

The plan was opposed in the committee hearing at the 
state house and leave to withdraw reported. The house, 
however, appointed a special committee to visit the town and 
consider the matter, and this committee on Feb. 5, 1803, 
reported in favor of a division. A bill was presented and 
passed, and was approved by Governor Caleb Strong, Feb. 26, 
1803, which divided the town as desired and incorporated the 
southerly part as Fallriver, spelled as one word. This name 
was not pleasing, however, to those citizens who did not live 
in the little community near the stream, and at a town meet- 
ing on May 19, 1804, it was voted to change the name to Troy, 
a word said to have been selected in consequence of a favor- 
able impression made on one of the residents by the town of 
Troy, New York. A petition to the legislature followed, and 
the change was authorized on June 18 of that year. The com- 
munity continued to be known as Troy for 30 years, till 1834, 
when the present title was resumed. The change from Troy 
back to Fall River was urged on two grounds, one that the 
village where most of the business was transacted was known 
as Fall River and the other that there was constant confusion 
in mail owing to the fact that there were other towns named 
Troy. 

The first town meeting was held April 4, 1803, at the home 
of Louisa Borden, at which Simeon Borden, Thomas Borden 
and Charles Durfee were appointed a committee to settle 
affairs between the old town of Freetown and the new town. 
A second meeting was held on Aug. 15, 1803, when it was 
voted that the poor of the town should be put up at auction 
and the contract for their support awarded to the lowest 
bidder. This practice continued until about 1825, though an 
almshouse was maintained during part of this time. 

At the time Fall River began its history as a separate 
town it had but about 1,000 inhabitants, and the village itself 
only about 100. The census of 1810 gave Troy a population 

16 



of but 1296, while within a section a mile and a half square 
there were only some 30 dwelling houses, three saw mills, 
four grist mills, a fulling mill, a blacksmith shop and some 
small stores. At the southwesterly corner of South Main and 
Broadway, now Anawan, street was a schoolhouse, and on 
the line dividing the states, a short distance north of Columbia 
street, was an old, unplastered meeting house, occupied occa- 
sionally and called the Line Meeting House. The regular 
place of worship was at the Narrows, where a Baptist church 
had been erected about 1800. The entire valuation of the 
town was less than $500,000, and the total tax, in 1813, only 
$1500. 

The first town house was erected in 1804-05, probably 
at the corner of Main and Wilson roads, and this continued 
to be the meeting place despite attempts to have it moved 
till it was destroyed by fire some 20 years later. A post 
office was established in 1811, but removed to Steep Brook, 
two years later, and re-established at Troy, now Fall River 
in 1816. 

The custom house for the section was then at Dighton, 
where it had been established at the beginning of the federal 
government, and Fall River remained a part of the district of 
Dighton till April 1, 1837, when the office was removed to Fall 
River, which was made the port of entry in place of Dighton, 
and the name of the district changed to Fall River. 

There was no regular communication with Providence, 
but vessels plying between Providence and Taunton called 
here to take and leave freight. Stage lines to Providence, 
Newport and New Bedford were established in 1825. A line 
was also run from Newport to Boston, which made deliveries 
here. 

During the war of 1812 the town purchased a supply of 
guns and ammunition, but these appear never to have been 
used, and were subsequently ordered sold. 

In 1811 Col. Joseph Durfee had built the first cotton mill 
in this section at Globe Village, then a part of Tiverton, but 
this industry was small, and though it marked the real begin- 
ning of cotton manufacturing here, it was not until two years 
later that mills were erected on the stream in what is now the 

17 



center of the city. These were the Troy Cotton & Woolen 
Manufactory and the Fall River Manufactory, with capitals of 
$50,000 and $40,000, respectively, both started in 1813. They 
gave a considerable impetus to the community and the census 
of 1820 showed a population of 1594. 

In the ten years between 1820 and 1830 the town experi- 
enced a boom. The Fall River Iron Works, now a great cotton 
manufacturing plant, began operations in 1821, for the manu- 
facture of hoop and bar iron and nails, with a capital of $24,000. 
The Pocasset Mfg. Co. was started by New Bedford capitalists 
about the same time, Robeson's print works, and the satinet 
mill, about 1824, and the Annawan in 1825. The Pocasset 
erected a new mill in 1826, and in 1827 the small mill at the 
west side of its main plant and still run by the company, 
known first as the Massasoit and afterward as the Watuppa. 
When built it was so great a wonder that people came from 
far and near to see it, for its size was remarkable in mill con- 
struction. It was so large that it was felt no one concern 
would want to use it all, and having two wheel pits, it was 
divided into sections to let to various persons. The Fall River 
Manufactory at this time also built its ' 'Nankeen Mill," oper- 
ated by Azariah and Jarvis Shove in making nankeen cloth. 
It was torn down when the corporation built a new mill, 
known as the "white mill" in 1839. Oliver Chace's thread 
mill, now the Conanicut, began operations in 1835. 

The Fall River Bank was opened in 1825, the Fall River 
Savings Bank in 1828 and the Fall River Union Bank in 1830. 

The North Burial Ground was bought in 1825. The 
undertaking business was then insufficient to make it profitable 
for any man to keep a hearse, but the town maintained one 
for free public use, in the "hearse house," standing until a 
few years ago on the west side of North Main street, a short 
distance north of Brownell street. 

The Monitor newspaper began publication as a weekly in 
1826, with its first issue appearing from an office on Bedford 
street near Main. 

The first steps toward a fire department were taken 
the following year, when ten fire wards, or wardens, were 
appointed, and in 1829 an engine was purchased and a house 

18 



erected for it. This supplemented a "bucket engine M which 
had been secured in 1818. 

The churches had now become more numerous, and some 
of the older structures still standing were erected between 
1825 and 1850. Of these, the First Congregational, at the 
corner of North Main and Elm streets, was completed in 1832, 
the First Christian, on Franklin street, burned in 1843, had 
been built in 1830 and the Unitarian, which originally stood at 
the corner of Second and Borden streets, in 1835. A Methodist 
church had been formed here in 1827 and had erected an edi- 
fice south of Central street, and the Church of the Ascension, 
the beginning of the Protestant Episcopal work here, had been 
organized in 1836. The Friends Meeting House erected in 
1821 on North Main street was moved and a larger one took its 
place in 1836. The Baptist Temple dates from 1840 and the 
First M. E. Church location on South Main street from 1844. 
The first Roman Catholic service is believed to have been held 
in Fall River in 1829, and in 1836 a wooden chapel, called St. 
John's, was erected where St. Mary's cathedral now stands. 
In 1841 the selectmen were instructed at Town meeting 
to employ some one "to take charge of the clock of the Stone 
church and keep it running," and this has been done by the 
town and city up to the present day. 

In the decade beginning with 1831 the town continued to 
move forward and increased its population more than 60 per 
cent., from 4,159 in 1830 to 6,738 in 1840. The American Print 
Works began operation in January, 1835, with four printing 
machines, and enlarged five years later. The machine method 
of producing calico, a few years after, wholly superseded 
block, or hand, printing. At first only two or three colors 
were applied by machinery, but mechanical ingenuity soon 
succeeded in multiplying them to such an extent and applying 
them with so much precision that manual printing became 

obsolete. 

New streets were called for and provided. Pocasset and 
Pleasant were opened in 1830, while in 1832, those laid out, 
extended or accepted included Cherry, formerly known as 
Tasker, Broadway, later called Annawan, Spring, Washington 
and Union. In 1835 many others were laid out, and Rock, 



19 



which had been known as Exchange street, was given its 
present title. The first public drain in the village, at the 
"Four Corners," was begun in 1831, and in 1835 the poor farm 
property , including what is now the North Park, was purchased. 
The "Four Corners" was the junction of North and South 
Main, Central and Bedford streets. Here was the "cleft 
rock" at the northeast corner, the place of evening gatherings 
of the villagers to discuss public and other questions. 

South of Central street was the ' ' Creek , " extending from 
the present easterly end of what was formerly known as the 
Metacomet Mill, westerly nearly to present Water St. The 
width of this creek varied from 150 to 400 feet, the wider 
portion being at the easterly end, where, near the shore, stood 
a grist mill and saw mill. 

This creek was navigable, and the Providence packet 
came to the doors of the mills to receive and deliver freight. 
On the northerly side was a landing from which large quanti- 
ties of wood were taken, it being consigned to Newport and 
other nearby points. 

From the landing to the top of the bank, a short distance 
south of Central street, was a wood slide having a bottom of 
oak plank, with sides about 18 inches in height. Wood drawn 
in from the outlying districts and thrown into this slide soon 
found its way to the landing below, where it was easily loaded 
into vessels. 

A wood lot was considered as good as a bank account, 
there being quite a demand for wood, and any person in need 
of cash could, provided he had the wood, load his team, drive 
' 'to town," and convert it into cash without difficulty. 

At the westerly end of the creek, there were floating in 
the water a large number of pine logs of various lengths from 
which pumps were to be made as called for. The only method 
of obtaining water for domestic purposes was by use of wells 
or pumps, and there was a steady, though not great demand 
for {jumps. Two, or more, were installed in each sailing 
vessel. The object of keeping the logs in the water was to 
prevent cracking, as would have been the case had they been 
exposed to the sun's rays. It was somewhat of a feat to bore 
one of these logs and get the opening straight, and in the 

20 



center of the log. The "Block Shop " on the easterly side of 
Water street, a short distance south of Central street where 
these pumps were made, was in existence as late as 1870. 

In excavating for a foundation for the stone arch to carry 
Central street across the outlet of the creek, constructed in 
connection with the work of abolishing grade crossings in 
1903, large quantities of sawdust and numerous large logs 
were found buried under several feet of mud. In excavating 
for foundations for the No. 7 Mill of the Fall River Iron Works 
Co., oak logs and sawdust were found ten to twenty feet below 
the surface of the old pond which was west of the Annawan 
Mill. This, without doubt, also came from the saw mill near 
the foot of the river. In the early days there were several 
" wash wheels " on the south side of the stream, owned and 
operated by theTroy, Pocasset and Annawan companies, where 
for a small sum the women of the community might have 
their clothes washed in the river. The wheels were some 
eight or nine feet in diameter, provided with boxes having 
slats, in which the clothes were placed. They continued to be 
used till about 1847. 

A town house had been erected on a part of the North 
Burial Ground soon after its purchase, to take the place of 
the building at Steep Brook, which had been burned. In 
1836 this was removed to Central street and continued to be 
used for the meetings of voters till the erection of the new 
town hall on the site of the present city hall in 1844. 

The skeleton in armor, celebrated by Longfellow, and since 
commemorated by a bronze tablet erected near by, was dis- 
covered in 1832, in a sand or gravel bank near Hartwell and 
Fifth streets. It was near the surface, in a sitting posture, 
and quite perfect. On it was a triangular plate of brass, and 
about the waist a belt of brass tubes, each four or five inches 
long, about the size of a pipe stem and placed close together. 
Arrow heads and parts of other skeletons were found near 
by, and the skeleton was supposed to have been that of some 
Indian, probably a chief. It was removed to the rooms of the 
Fall River Athenaeum, and was destroyed in the fire of 1843. 

That fire, still spoken of by the older citizens as "the great 
fire," was a serious matter for the town. It occurred on Sun- 

21 



day, July 2, 1843, starting about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, in 
a pile of shavings, from the premature celebration of the 
Fourth by small boys. It began near the corner of Main and 
Borden streets in the rear of a large three-story warehouse, 
and almost instantly spread to the neighboring buildings. A 
high southwest wind fanned the flames and carried the sparks. 
No rain had fallen for weeks, and the buildings were very 
dry. As a consequence the structures on both sides of Main 
street were soon on fire, and the whole space between Main, 
Franklin, Rock and Borden streets was burned over. A 
change in the direction of the wind from southwest to north, 
thus driving the fire back over the burned district, was 
probably all that prevented the destruction of nearly the 
entire village. The water in the stream had been drawn off 
to allow repairs in some of the mills, and the only means of 
fighting the flames were hand engines and bucket brigades. 
About ten o'clock in the evening, a vessel arrived from Bristol, 
with a hand engine, which assisted in saving houses on 
Purchase street. 

Nearly 200 buildings were destroyed, including 95 dwell- 
ings, the "Old Bridge Mill," the Methodist and Christian 
churches, the Annawan schoolhouse, the postoffice and custom 
house and two hotels. The loss was estimated at $526,000, 
about one-third of which was covered by insurance. A relief 
committee was appointed, to care for those made destitute, 
and an appeal for help sent to other towns. Almost $51,000 
was received in response, of which $13, 165 came from Boston, 
while Providence and New Bedford each sent about $1700. 
New York also sent funds. 

The town recovered quickly from the fire that at first 
seemed a calamity, and the new buildings erected in place of 
the old were substantial and, undoubtedly, a great improve- 
ment on those which had been destroyed. They included the 
Granite Block, and several at least, of the brick buildings now 
standing on North Main street between Bedford and Franklin. 
A new town hall, the walls of which are those of the present 
city hall, was constructed, and dedicated, Dec. 30, 1845. This 
had markets and offices on the first floor and a large hall and 
town offices above. 

22 



In new industries a mill known as the "Massasoit Steam 
Mill," because, unlike the other mills, it had no water power, 
being 1 operated by steam, was erected in 1845, on the west 
side of Davol street, at the end of Cherry, and a mill was built 
by Augustus Chace and William B. Trafford in 1845, for the 
manufacture of cotton twine, batting and cotton warp. It 
was later known as the Wyoming Mills. The buildings were 
sold to James Marshall for the hat factory about 1896. 

The years 1846 and 1847 saw the erection of two large 
mills, the first of that type. The earlier factories had been 
but two or three stories high, 40 or 50 feet wide and about 100 
feet long. The Pocasset Company now constructed a mill of 
five stories, 219 feet in length and 75 feet wide, and the Fall 
River Iron Works Co. built the Metacomet mill, which it long 
controlled and which was likewise a tremendous plant for 
those times. Six years later the American Linen Co. was 
established, with extensive buildings, and designed, primarily, 
as its name implies, for the manufacture of linen goods, in 
which it engaged for some years. Another considerable 
industry had grown up at Globe Village, in the Globe Print 
Works, on the stream from the Cook Pond into the bay. To 
meet the increased business, additional banks had likewise 
been established, the Massasoit in 1846, the Citizens Savings 
in 1851, the Metacomet in 1852 and the Pocasset in 1854. 

The new mills brought new inhabitants, including immi- 
grants from Great Britain, and the population grew to 10, 290 in 
1845, and 11,170 in 1850. New school buildings were required 
and built, the Annawan having been burned and rebuilt shortly 
after 1843, the High street, later called the Lincoln, in 1846, 
the June street in 1849 and the Columbia street about 1852. An 
evening school was opened in 1848, a high school the following 
year, on Franklin street, but removed in 1852 to the building 
erected for its use on June street, later called the Foster 
Hooper. Other early schools were one of brick on the west 
side of North Main street, opposite where the Narragansett 
Mill now stands and the ' 'Green Schoolhouse" on the north side 
of Franklin street, between High and Rock, erected in 1832 
and later sold, and occupied on the first floor by members of the 
Society of Friends and on the upper floor by a private school. 

23 



A police force of six men had been appointed in 1844, and 
a hospital built on the town farm land in 1851, on the north 
side of Brownell street, about midway between North Main 
street and Highland avenue. Gas had been introduced in 
1847, and three years later the first street lights of gas, some 20 
or 30, were authorized. In 1853 the records show an appropri- 
ation of $1,000 for street sprinkling. 

A regular steamer was now plying to Providence. The 
Hancock, of 98 tons, began trips in September, 1828, was 
succeeded by the King Philip, of 169 tons, in 1832, and the 
Bradford Durfee, of 333 tons in 1845. The Canonicus, an 
excursion boat, was built in 1849, and later enlarged. The 
Metacomet, which came here in 1854, was in 1857 purchased 
by the United States government and entered the navy as the 
gunboat Pulaski. She was finally sold at Montevideo, Uruguay, 
in 1863, and was plying on the LaPlatte river as late as 1870. 

Before the Hancock took her place on the line there were 
packets running regularly between Providence and Fall River, 
under command of Capt. Thomas Borden, who, when the Han- 
cock was purchased, brought her around from Boston and after- 
ward commanded her. He was extremely unwilling to turn 
from anything he had undertaken, and when, in bringing the 
Hancock up the Seaconnet river he found she was a little too 
wide to pass through the draw at Stone Bridge, he is said to 
have hewn off with a broadaxe enough of the guards to allow 
her to pass, rather than go back and come up via Newport. 

Steamers were also running to New York, beginning 
with the Eudora, a propeller, which began making schedule 
trips about once a week early in 1845. 

What later became the Fall River Line had its beginning 
in 1846, when the Bay State Steamboat Co. was organized 
and began passenger service with two steamers, the Bay State 
and the Massachusetts. They were the first to approach the 
modern standard of Sound steamers, and served as models for 
those subsequently built. The Bay State was in service 17 
years, and was dismantled in 1864, when her hull was con- 
verted into a barge and her engine placed in the Old Colony. 

Soon after the line was opened another steamer was 
needed, and the Rhode Island was chartered until the Empire 

24 



State was ready. The latter, built for the service was 
completed in 1848, and remained in use on the line till 1871, 
when she was sold and later used as an excursion boat running 
out of Boston. She ended her days by burning at the dock 
at Bristol, R. I. May 14th, 1887. Next was the State of Maine 
which had been built for a line projected between Boston and 
Portland, but which was never employed there and was sold 
to the Fall River Line soon after her completion. She joined 
the fleet in 1850 and remained in service till 1863. The 
Metropolis followed in 1854, and was the finest boat of the 

period. ,. 

Between 1840 and 1860 a half dozen or more whale ships 
were fitted out here and sent on cruises, though after the dis- 
covery of gold in California most of them were used in trans- 
porting passengers and freight to the Pacific coast. The 
wharf where they discharged their cargoes was on Davol 
street, being the one occupied by Pardee & Young Co. 

The Fall River railroad was opened for travel June 9, 
1845 It ran to Myricks, where connection was made with 
trains by which one could reach Boston over the New Bedford 
and Taunton, the Taunton Branch and the Boston and Provi- 
dence railroads. The station was just south of the Central 
street tunnel, but was discontinued and a new station erected 
on the wharf when the steamboat line to New York was 
opened. 

FALL RIVER A CITY 

Fall River became a city in 1854, adopting a seal with the 
motto k 'We'll Try." It then had a population of more than 
12 000 a valuation of $8,939,215 and an annual tax of $56,000. 
It' had school, fire and police departments, churches, mills, 
railroad and steamship lines, and was a thriving and vigorous 
town, well equipped to assume the duties of the 11th city of 
the commonwealth. 

The change, from town to city government, appears to 
have been generally desired, and steps toward bringing it 
about were taken at a town meeting on Jan. 5, 1854, one 

25 



article of the warrant for which was, ''to see what action if 
any the Town will take in relation to obtaining a City Charter. ' ' 
A committee was appointed, consisting of Foster Hooper, chair- 
man, John Westall, N. B. Borden, Israel Buffinton, Thomas 
Wilbur, Robert C. Brown, Eliab Williams, Samuel L. Thaxter 
and Louis Lapham, to petition the legislature and draft a 
proposed charter. Mr. Westall declined to serve, and Benja- 
min Earl was appointed in his place. The Committee reported 
a charter and after some amendments it was submitted to the 
legislature. The desired act of incorporation was secured 
April 12, 1854, and approved by the voters of the town at a 
meeting on April 22 by a vote of 529 to 247. 

The charter provided for the election of a mayor, the divi- 
sion of the city into six wards, the election of a board of alder- 
men of six members, one from each ward, and of a common 
council composed of three members from each ward. It also 
provided for the establishing of fire and police departments. 

The first city election was held on May 6, resulting in 
the choice of James Buffinton, afterwards congressman, for 
mayor, and James Henry, Edward P. Buffinton, Oliver H. 
Hathaway, Alvan S. Ballard, Edwin Shaw and Julius B. 
Champney for aldermen. The new government was inaugu- 
rated at the city hall on May 15, with prayer, the administer- 
ing of the oaths of office and addresses by Chester W. Greene, 
chairman of the selectmen, and the mayor. 

Mayor Buffinton was re-elected in the following year, but 
resigned on his election to Congress, and was succeeded by 
Edward P. Buffinton, followed in 1857 by Nathaniel B. Borden; 
in 1858 and 1859 by Josiah C. Blaisdell, and in 1860 again by 
Edward P. Buffinton, who remained in office throughout the 
war, and until 1867. 

One of the first important acts of the new city government 
was the purchase of 47 acres of land in 1855, at $200 an acre 
for a burial ground, and called Oak Grove Cemetery. At this 
time the city traded a tract of land between North Main street 
and present Highland avenue, on both sides of present Lincoln 
avenue, which the town had bought for a park in 1853. 

During the summer of 1854, this city, as did many others, 
suffered from an outbreak of cholera, which, before it was 

26 



stamped out in October, caused the death of 130 persons 
Only the most stringent quarantine regulations prevented 
much greater ravages of the disease. 

The panic of 1857 caused much suffering, as nearly all the 
mills were obliged to close.and in November only two were in 
operation. To meet the situation, on recommendation of 
Mayor Borden, large numbers of men were given work by the 
citv at ten cents an hour, at the cemetery and poor farm and 
on the highways. About the close of the year, however, the 
New York banks resumed payment, and the stringency was 
relieved, allowing the resumption of work in the mills. 

The following year some dissatisfaction was felt with the 
city charter, and an attempt was made to secure a return to 
the town form of government. A public meeting attended 
by some 400 citizens showed, however, that sentiment was 
about two to one in favor of continuing with the existing 
government, and the agitation subsided. 

The annual municipal election had been held on the first 
Monday in March, but in 1860 this was changed to the first 
Monday in December and the municipal year modified so as to 
begin in January. The date of the election was later changed 
to the Tuesday after the first Monday. 

In the same year, 1860, a public library was established 
though deserving pupils in the public schools had since 1837 
been entitled, in consideration of a payment of $800 by the 
town to the use of the books of the Athenaeum, a private 
library organized in 1835. Most of the volumes in its collection 
were destroyed by the fire of 1843, but a new library had now 
been collected, housed first in the town hall and subsequently 
in the old Music hall on Franklin street. Through an agree- 
ment with the stockholders of the Athenaeum the city obtained 
its collection of 2,362 volumes, to which were added by gilt 
214 belonging to the Ocean Fire Company, and with these the 
library was opened for use, in the southwest corner of the 
second floor of the city hall building. May 1, 1861 This was 
but nine years after the founding, in Boston, of the first free 
public library in the world supported by general taxation 

A beginning of a modern fire department was made in 
1859 when the first steam fire engine was purchased, and in 



27 



I860 the first permanent member of the department was 
engaged as its driver. 

The making of flour was a considerable industry at one 
time, and there were three plants engaged in this business. 
The first of these was the Bristol County Flour Mills, erected 
in 1852, at the corner of Central and Davol streets, which had 
a capacity of 80 barrels a day. The Massasoit Flour Mills, 
where the Massasoit Mfg. Co. now stands, had a capacity of 200 
barrels a day, and continued till the late seventies. At the 
foot of Central street the Fall River Flour Mills were started 
in 18G1 and were smaller than either of the others. 

A most important step in the development of the city's 
industries was made in 1859, in the organization of the Union 
Mill Co. the first corporation whose capital was secured by 
public subscription. Before this time the manufacturing 
corporations had been in the hands of comparatively few 
interests, but now, funds were secured aggregating $175,000, 
in shares of $1,000 each, and a mill of 15,000 spindles was 
erected. Its success brought about the starting of many other 
new mills, the Granite in 1863, the Robeson, Tecumseh 
and Durfee in 1866, the Merchants and Davol in 1867, the 
Mechanics in 1868 and many others within the next decade, 
among them, the first fine goods mill, the King Philip, in 1871. 

The news of the firing on Fort Sumter aroused a storm of 
patriotic feeling. At a crowded public meeting in city hall on 
April 19, 1861, the day the Massachusetts troops were attacked 
in the streets of Baltimore, speeches were made by many 
prominent men of the city and resolutions adopted by acclama- 
tion, declaring that the government of the Union must be 
sustained and calling on the city to appropriate $10,000 for 
the aid of those who might volunteer and for the support of 
their families, and to pay each volunteer $20 a month in addition 
to what the government offered. Five days later the city 
council appropriated the $10,000 as requested, and voted to 
pay $15 each month for every volunteer. 

The city was the third in the list of applicants to Governor 
Andrew for permission to raise military companies. Enlist- 
ments had already begun under Lieutenant Cushing, who had 
seen service in the Mexican war, while Chester W. Greene 

28 



organized a rifle company. These were companies A and B 
of the Seventh Regiment and were mustered in on June 11. 
A third company was also formed, but it was decided not to 
muster this in, and it was disbanded. 

In addition to the first two companies of the Seventh 
regiment, the city furnished Company G of the 26th, mus- 
tered in Oct. 18, 1861, which served three years, Companies 
C and D of the 3rd and a large part of F and G of the 58th, 
which left for the front the last of April, 1864. It also con- 
tributed many men to other regiments and 497 to the navy. 
In all 1,770 men went to the front, including 820 for three 
years, 207 for nine months, 192 for three months and 37 for 
one year. The total appropriations by the city government on 
account of the war were $107,828, and $127,510 were expended 
in the aid of soldiers' families. The troops on their return 
from the field, either on furlough or at the expiration of duty, 
were greeted with parades, the decoration of buildings and 
public exercises, and on occasions when the few Southern 
sympathizers dared express their feelings, they promptly 
received treatment that showed the attitude of the citizens in 
no uncertain manner. 

The news of the fall of Richmond was announced by the 
general ringing of bells, and when it became known that Lee 
had surrendered, the bells were again rung, cannon fired, the 
Light Infantry paraded, schools dismissed and work generally 
suspended. A large meeting was held in the city hall in the 
evening, presided over by the mayor. 

During the war a final settlement was reached of the 
vexed question of the state boundary line, which had been a 
subject of controversy for many years. The matter had been 
carried to the supreme court of the United States, and in 
1861 a decision was obtained which went into effect in March 
of the following year, by which the line was moved from a 
point a short distance north of Columbia street to its present 
location. 

The old line, which ran from near the corner of William 
and Bay streets easterly through the old button wood tree that 
long stood on the east side of South Main street, a short dis- 
tance north of Columbia had been established in 1741 by a 
royal commission. 

29 



The change annexed to the city, the town of Fall River, 
Rhode Island, which by its request had been set apart from 
Tiverton by the Rhode Island legislature Oct. 6, 1856. This 
had an area of about nine square miles, a population of 3,593 
and a valuation of $1,948,378. The town had been closely 
allied with the city, and the merger was of the greatest 
advantage to both. 

The war period also saw a great improvement in the rail- 
road facilities of the city, through the extension of the exist- 
ing road to Newport in 1863 and the construction of a line to 
Providence two years later. The first passenger train to 
Stone Bridge was run on Nov. 19, 1863, and the first to New- 
port on the 26th of the same month. The railroad from 
Warren to South Somerset, where connection was made with 
a ferryboat to this city, had been begun in the same year, but 
scarcity of labor, high cost of materials and severe weather 
combined to cause delay, and it was not until May 22, 1865, 
that the first train was run over this line. Connection was 
made with a ferryboat landing at the foot of Ferry street. 

Two toll roads within the city limits were discontinued 
about this time. One of these was, what is now Pleasant 
street, east of Quarry, near which a toll house and gate 
stood. This road which had been built in 1827, started from 
Twelfth street, and continued into Westport. It was called 
the Watuppa Turnpike, and was owned by a stock company, 
known as the Fall River and Watuppa Turnpike Corporation, 
which was reimbursed when the toll road was made a public 
thoroughfare by the county commissioners in 1865. Previous 
to that time the Old Bedford Road, now County street was 
available as a public highway for those who did not wish to 
pay toll, but it was not kept in good repair. 

The second toll road ran from the corner of Chace and 
Bay streets, where the gate was situated, nearly to Stone 
Bridge. So much of it as was within the city limits, was 
opened to the public by the aldermen in 1863. 

Soon after the close of the war, the first large numbers 
of French Canadians, who have since become so considerable 
an element in the population, began to come here. The city's 
industries were prosperous, the demand for labor was keen, 

30 



and the early-comers, who soon found employment, sent for 
others, resulting in a large immigration. 

Meantime, to meet the needs of the growing community, 
progress had been made in various directions. The Wamsutta 
Bank, afterwards the Second National, had been started in 
1856, and in 1864 the First National. A third savings bank 
the Fall River Five Cents Savings, was opened in 1856 and the 
Union Savings followed in 1869. The free delivery of mail 
had also been put into effect in 1863, and the first superin- 
tendent of schools in the city elected in 1865. 

The churches had been active, and between 1850 and liSbO 
the edifices now occupied by the First Baptist, the United 
Presbyterian, St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal and St. Mary s 
Roman Catholic, had been added to the city's notable struc- 

•J- it v*pc 

Mayor Buffinton had been succeeded in 1867 by George 0. 
Fairbanks, who served two years, and in 1869 by Samuel M. 
Brown, who remained in office until 1872. Especially notable 
in Mayor Fairbanks' administration was the erection ol the 
Morgan street school, now known as the N. B. Borden the 
first large school building and the first to be constructed of 
other material than wood, the purchase of the South Fark 
and the laying out and working of Highland road. 

From a population of about 12,000 at the time it became 
a city Fall River had advanced to 17,525 by the end of the 
Civil War. In the five years that followed, it added nearly 
10 000 inhabitants, and the census of 1870 showed a popula- 
tion of 27,191. The valuation in that period grew from 
$12 000 000 to $26,000,000, and the number of spindles in 
operation from 265,328 to 544,606. It had made great strides, 
but even greater were to follow. 

1871-1890 

The period of 1871 and 1872 will long be recalled as 
remarkable for the wonderfully rapid increase in the city's 
industries and corresponding growth in wealth and popula- 
tion. Fifteen new corporations were formed and began the 

31 



erection of large mills, eleven of which were constructed in 
a single year, 1872. From this period date the Stafford, 
Weetamoe, Slade, Richard Borden, Wampanoag, Narragan- 
sett, King Philip, Crescent, Osborn, Chace, Montaup, Flint, 
Border City, Sagamore, Shove and Barnard, as well as the 
Fall River Bleachery. The mills built in the previous decade 
had prospered, confidence was strong and capital easy to 
secure. 

Land values doubled and trebled, carpenters and masons 
were everywhere in demand and the city grew as it had 
never grown before. Nearly nine million dollars were added 
to its taxable valuation in a single year. The new factories 
gave employment to 6,000 additional hands, and newcomers 
with their families poured in from every side. In the four 
years between 1870 and 1874 more than 15,000 inhabitants 
were added to the city, increasing the population to 43,289. 

It was at this period that the very rapid growth of 
the eastern section of the city, popularly known as Flint 
Village, began. It had until this time been sparsely settled 
farming land, but the first mills were so quickly followed by 
others, that a considerable community speedily grew up, and 
the vacant land was soon covered with buildings. To-day a 
territory, that in 1870 was almost entirely given up to agri- 
culture, is covered with what is in itself a small city. 

The northern section called Border City, and the southern 
section embracing Globe Village also began their rapid 
development at this time, for mills were built there as well 
as at the east end. The growth of the Stafford Road and 
Maplewood districts is more recent. 

Better highways, schools and fire protection were required 
and furnished. In the closing years of Mayor Brown's ad- 
ministration, and in that of Robert T. Davis, who was the 
chief executive of the city in 1873, important highway improve- 
ments were made, including the widening of North Main, 
South Main and Pleasant streets. 

Three large schools were ordered, the Slade, Davis and 
Davenport, two of which were begun, and work started on 
three fire and police stations at the north, east and south ends 
of the city. In the public schools, in 1874, text books were 
made free to the pupils. 

32 



Still other municipal work at this time was the laying out 
of the South Park in 1871 and the rebuilding of the city hall, 
to meet the demand for additional offices. A mansard roof, 
tower and clock were added at a total cost of $200,000. 

Even more important was the construction of the water 
works system. This had been urged for years, but it was 
not until 1870 after an analysis of the water in the wells had 
shown a dangerous condition, while that in the North Watuppa 
when analyzed proved to be unusually pure, that the first 
steps were taken toward the construction of a system. Forty- 
eight acres of land at the head of Bedford street were pur- 
chased, and an engineer engaged to prepare plans. In March, 
1871, the legislature authorized the project, and it was 
approved by the voters at an election on April 10, at which 
933 voted in favor of it and only 89 against. 

The first board of water commissioners, Philip D. Borden, 
William Lindsey and Joseph A. Bowen, was elected the 
following spring and in the fall, work was begun on the con- 
struction of a road, nearly a mile and a half long, which it 
was necessary to build to the site selected for a pumping 
station. The foundations for the buildings were built in 1872 
and the superstructure was completed the next year. These 
included a granite tower for standpipes, 121 feet high, the 
balcony of which, situated 72 feet above the base, is 324 feet 
above sea level. The laying of mains had meantime been in 
progress, and by September, 1876, 45 miles of pipe from 6 
to 24 inches in diameter, had been installed. An engine had 
been put in, in 1873 and pumped the first water through the 
mains in December of that year, though it was not until Jan. 
8, 1874, that it was available for public use. A second pump 
was added in 1875. The cost of the water system to Oct. 1, 
1876, was $1,328,456. 

With a water works system in operation, the city now 
turned its attention to the building of sewers, and in the 
administration of James F. Davenport, who was mayor from 
1874 to 1877, large sums were expended on this work. 
Following substantially the plans which had been prepared by 
Phinehas Ball in 1873, a total of 9,329 feet were constructed 
in 1874 at a cost of more than $70,000. Practically $100,000 

33 



was used in 1876, when more than four miles of sewers were 
built. 

Other notable city work at this period included the 
erection of the large Davenport school, and the construction 
of a fire station on Plymouth avenue and a new city hospital. 

The new Central Congregational Church and the Church 
of the Ascension were erected in 1875 and the former dedi- 
cated at this time. The Borden Block, containing the Academy 
of Music, was opened on Jan. 6, 1876. The railroad between 
this city and New Bedford had likewise been completed, and 
the first passenger train run over it on Dec. 16, 1875. 

It was at this period, too, that Slade's Ferry bridge was 
built, doing away with the old ferryboat system and furnish- 
ing much more convenient communication between the city 
and the towns on the west side of the Taunton river, as well 
as the running of Providence trains directly to the city. This 
bridge, which was opened to the public on Jan. 4, 1876, had 
been authorized by the legislature in 1872 and was begun in 
October two years later. It was completed except for the 
approaches on Nov. 9, 1875. It is 955 feet long and 20 feet 
wide and cost $305,000, of which the county paid $41,361, the 
city $26,000, Somerset $5,200, Swansea $3,200 and the Old 
Colony Railroad Company the remainder. During its con- 
struction five men were killed by the bursting of an air 
chamber, Dec. 4, 1874. The first train was run across it Dec. 
6, 1875. 

Prior to the erection of the bridge, a ferry had long been 
maintained here by members of the Slade family, established 
by William Slade, soon after he settled in Somerset in 1689. 
Rowboats were used at first, then sailboats and later, begin- 
ning in 1826, a boat propelled by horses, on which the stages 
could cross. The steamer Faith succeeded the horseboat in 
1847, followed by the Weetamoe in 1859, and was used till the 
bridge was opened to travel. The fare was established by 
the county commissioners. 

In 1863, following the extension of the Old Colony Rail- 
road to Newport, the Bay State Steamboat Co., which estab- 
lished the Fall River Line, transferred its steamboats to the 
Boston, Newport & New York Steamboat Co. and withdrew 

34 



from business. The new line established its terminal at 
Newport, and in 1865 added two new steamers, the Newport 
and the Old Colony, to its fleet. 

The steamers Bristol and Providence, contracted for by 
a line from New York to Groton which failed, were completed 
in 1867, and in 1868 and 1869 they were run between New 
York and Bristol by the Narragansett Steamship Co., in 
which "Jim" Fiske was active. They were so far in advance 
of previous models that they were looked on as marvels, and 
their fame was world-wide. Each boat had a band, and the 
officers and crew wore uniforms, innovations which helped 
to make the line famous. In 1869 the company which had 
acquired the Fall River Line succumbed to its Bristol rival, and 
the steamboats Bay State, Empire State, Metropolis, New- 
port and Old Colony were added to the fleet of the Narragan- 
sett Co., which soon after removed its terminus from Bristol 
to Fall River, discontinuing the line between Newport and 
New York. This was in 1869, and this port has since re- 
mained the eastern terminus. In 1874 the line was acquired 
by the Old Colony Steamboat Co., a corporation organized by 
the interests that controlled the Old Colony Railroad Co. 

The steamer Pilgrim, the first steamboat on Long Island 
Sound to be built of iron, took her place on the line in June, 
1883, the Puritan in 1889, the Plymouth in 1890, the Priscilla 
in 1894, the Providence, the second of that name, in 1905 
and the Commonwealth in 1908. The Plymouth was burned 
at her dock in Newport in 1906, while undergoing repairs, 
but was rebuilt and placed in service again the following 
year. Such magnificent boats as these have made the Fall 
River Line famous the world over. 

Since 1894 the line has been controlled by the New York, 
New Haven & Hartford Railroad Co. 

In 1874 the steamer Richard Borden of 785 tons was 
placed on the Providence Line. The narrowness of the 
Providence river made it very difficult for boats to turn and 
this boat was constructed as a "double ender," that is, to run 
in either direction much the same as a ferry boat; she was 
unusually fast, accommodated a large number of passengers 
and became very popular. After many years she was sold to 



35 



the Joy Line and re-named The Fairfield. She then ran from 
New York on the Bridgeport Line and was dismantled in 1910. 

In 1888 the Mount Hope of 880 tons, built in Boston, was 
placed on the line to run to Block Island. This boat was both 
swift and staunch and still makes regular trips in the summer 
between Providence and Block Island, calling at Newport. 

Soon after 1900 the passenger service which had been 
maintained between Providence and Fall River since 1828 was 
discontinued. Freight boats were run until 1905 when the 
company withdrew from the service. 

The line was run as a part of the Fall River Iron Works 
Company from its inception in 1828 until 1880, when it was 
incorporated as the Fall River & Providence Steamboat Com- 
pany. In 1896 it was sold to the Providence, Fall River & 
Newport Steamboat Company which continues business, 
although it has withdrawn from this port, finding it unprofit- 
able to compete with the electric railroads between this city 
and Providence. 

A freight line is now in existence under the name of the 
Dyer Transportation Co., while the freight steamers of the 
Merchants & Miners Transportation Co. make this city a port 
of call for the Philadelphia-Providence steamers. 

The federal government recognizing the growing import- 
ance of the city, authorized the erection of the handsome 
postoffice and custom house on Bedford street. This was 
begun in 1875 and completed in 1880, at a total cost of $518,000, 
of which $132,000 was for land. 

The first session of the superior court was held here on 
June 27, 1877, in a large room in the new Borden Block, 
where sittings continued to be held till the North Main street 
court house was ready for use. Until 1877, sessions were held 
in this county only in Taunton and New Bedford. 

A further addition to the steamship facilities of the port 
had been made in 1876, when the Clyde Line made this the 
terminus for its Philadelphia steamers. 

The city had suffered in the panic of 1873 and in "The 
Great Vacation" of 1875, when the mills were closed for nine 
weeks during the summer, but these were mild in com- 
parison with the losses caused through financial irregularities 

36 



in certain corporations that came to light in 1878 and 1879. 
These caused the reorganization of several of the mills and 
severe losses to many individuals. Savings banks were 
restrained from paying more than ten per cent, of deposits 
within six months. Dividends were suspended for a time, 
and depositors sold their books for as low as 70 cents on the 
dollar. The blow was a hard one to the community, but it 
kept its courage and went to work with an energy that again 
won success. 

The Granite Mill fire which occurred on the morning of 
September 19, 1874, and cost the lives of 20 workers and the 
injury of 30 more, will long be remembered. It taught the 
need of improved methods of escape in other mills, and they 
were installed at once. 

Crawford E. Lindsey was mayor in 1879 and 1880, and 
in his administration sewer and highway work were again 
pushed forward, and a board of health established, with 
B. F. Winslow, J. S. Anthony andC.W. Copelandas members. 
The city stables were removed from the building now occupied 
by the police department as a central station, and the build- 
ing remodelled so as to give the police, who had occupied 
only part of the structure, the entire building with the 
exception of that occupied by the second district court on 
the second floor. 

The last half of the decade from 1870 to 1880 saw a com- 
parative lull in mill building, and though existing plants were 
somewhat extended, the total spindles added during this 
period numbered about 120,000. The population, too, was 
growing much more slowly, and from 45,160 in 1875 had 
reached but 47,883 in 1880. The city, however, was gaining 
strength for another great advance in the coming ten years, 
and was putting on more and more the aspect of a modern 
municipality. 

It already had the beginning of a telephone system, 
installed in the late 70s, and in 1880 the first street cars were 
put in use, drawn, of course, by horses, and running first on 
Main and Pleasant streets, though in the beginning for only 
a part of the present distance of the lines. Three years later, 
in 1883, electricity was introduced in the city and began to 
compete with gas for the illuminating field. 

37 



The Troy Co-operative Bank, the first of the four 
institutions of this nature which now hold large sums collected 
through the savings of the citizens, was established in 1880, 
followed by the People's in 1882, and the Fall River in 
1888. New homes were needed by the First National Bank, 
the Fall River National, the Massasoit and the Metacomet, 
and suitable buildings were erected between 1887 and 
1892. 

The industries of the city after 1880, began to move for- 
ward, and, beginning in 1881, the city saw the formation 
before the end of the decade, of the Globe Yarn, which 
erected three mills, the Laurel Lake, the Barnaby, for the 
manufacture of ginghams, the Seaconnet, the Hargraves and 
the Kerr Thread. It also saw the erection of new mills 
by the Durfee, Sagamore, Richard Borden, Border City, 
Tecumseh, and Stafford corporations and the construction 
of the first of the seven large mills of the Fall River Iron 
Works Co. , a corporation which years before had carried on 
a large iron business here, and which has been maintained 
under its old name, to preserve valuable rights given by its 
charter, though now engaged in cotton manufacturing. 

Across the Rhode Island line in Tiverton but so near that 
Fall River benefitted largely from them, were built the 
plant of the Bourne Mills, and a second mill of the Shove. 
Approximately 800,000 spindles were added at this time bring- 
ing the total well above the two million mark. 

In the latter part of the decade, too, in 1887, a small be- 
ginning had been made toward what is now the large hat 
manufacturing establishment of the Marshall Brothers. 

The magnificent high school building given by Mrs. Mary 
B. Young in memory of her son, Bradford Matthew Chaloner 
Durfee, was begun in 1883 and completed on June 15, 1887, 
when it was with due ceremonies presented to the city, 
accompanied with an endowment of $50,000. Of beautiful 
proportions and placed on a commanding location, it was a 
splendid addition to the city from an architectural as well as 
an educational point of view. It has a total length of 253 feet, 
a greatest width of 90 feet, with two towers, one bearing a 
clock and chimes and the other a telescope. 

38 



The record of the city government during the decade 
shows a quiet but steady forward movement. William S. 
Greene was mayor in 1880 and was re-elected in 1881, but 
resigned to become postmaster and was succeeded by Robert 
Henry. The office of city engineer was established. The 
Linden and Cambridge street schools were erected and the 
city stables begun. 

In 1882 and 1883, Henry K. Braley, now a justice of the 
supreme judicial court of Massachusetts, was the chief execu- 
tive. In his term, electric street lighting was introduced, and 
the North Park dedicated to park purposes. 

Milton Reed succeeded Mr. Braley in 1884. Additional 
electric street lights were erected and three four-room school 
buildings erected, the Covel Street, the Mt. Hope Avenue and 
the Brownell Street. 

John W. Cummings, mayor in 1885, was succeeded in 
1886 by William S. Greene, and returned to office in 1887 and 
1888. The burning of the interior and roof of city hall, March 
19, 1886, leaving only the walls, and its rebuilding at a cost 
of $300,000; the widening of South Main street from Pocasset 
to Anawan, to a width of 60 feet, and the dedication of the 
new high school are the facts that stand out most prominently 
in the record of these years. 

1890-1911 

In the 20 years since 1890 Fall River has continued to 
make wonderful progress. It has added more than 45,000 
inhabitants, increasing the number from 74,918 to 119,295 by 
the federal census of 1910, a gain of practically 60 per cent. 
The assessed valuation has increased from $53,473,183 to 
$92,488,520, a gain of 73 per cent. The city has come but 
little short of doubling the number of spindles in its mills. 

It has extended and greatly improved its streets, beautified 
its parks, protected the purity of the water supply, added 
playgrounds, placed wires underground, eliminated grade 
crossings and has seen the building of a handsome new bridge 
across the Taunton river. 

39 



Scores of beautiful buildings have been erected, including 
those of the superior and district courts, schools, the Boys' 
Club and its extension, the Women's Union, the Young Men's 
Christian Association, the Public Library, the Armory, and 
the churches of Notre Dame and Ste. Anne, with the latter's 
convent and rectory. Five new hospitals have been built, 
the Union, Ste. Anne's, the Highland, the City, and the Con- 
tagious, and buildings have been erected for the Children's 
Home, St. Vincent's orphanage, the Home for Aged People 
and the Bishop Stang Day Nursery. Many modern business 
blocks have been constructed, including those of the Massa- 
soit-Pocasset and Metacomet National Banks, the Bennett 
building, the Daily Globe building and the large department 
stores on South Main street. 

Fall River has seen times of depression, but to-day is 
bigger, better and stronger than ever before. 

Four new manufacturing corporations were formed here 
in the early 90s, the Algonquin Printing Co., the Sanford 
Spinning Co., the Stevens Mfg. Co., and the Parker Mills, 
and all erected large plants. The Fall River Iron Works Co. 
erected mills Nos. 2, 3 and 4, the Hargraves a No. 2, the 
Chace a No. 2, the Tecumseh a No. 3, the Granite a No. 3, 
and the Union a No. 4, while the King Philip put up a large 
weave shed and the Seaconnet materially increased its 
capacity. 

The Arkwright was incorporated in 1897, and about this 
time the Laurel Lake extended its plant, the Globe Yarn 
enlarged and the Barnard and the Shove constructed weave 
sheds that are small mills in themselves. 

Since 1900 the Iron Works Co. has built two mills, the 
Davis two, the Flint, the Sagamore and the Stevens one each. 
The Lincoln Mfg. Co. incorporated in 1906, has begun opera- 
tions. The Algonquin Printing Co. has erected its largest 
building. The Barnard, the Narragansett, the Weetamoe, 
and the Stafford have extended their plants, and the fact- 
ories of the Charlton Mills, the Pilgrim Mills, and the Stan- 
dard Fabric Co. have been begun. 

During the first four years of this period, ending with 
1894, Dr. John W. Coughlin was mayor and much was done 

40 



to meet the needs of the growing community. The fire dis- 
trict ordinance was amended in his first term, and the police 
force was enlarged and reorganized. In 1893, the Davol and 
Osborn schools were completed. The new city hospital was 
opened, July 1, 1894, and a city dispensary established, in 
that year. 

An important change at this time was in the motive power 
of the street cars, which were equipped w r ith electricity in the 
summer of 1892. The first car was run on Aug. 17, from the 
Stafford road car house to Morgan street, and on Sept. 2 the 
first electric car ran through the center of the city. About 
this period also an independent electric road, called the Fall 
River Street Railway, had been built from the corner of North 
Main and Bank streets to the Highlands, which was absorbed 
by the Globe Street Railway Company* in April, 1894. The 
Dartmouth & Westport Street Railway to New Bedford, was 
built in the latter year and opened July 1. It has now been 
acquired by the Union Street Railway Co. of New Bedford. 

Other suburban roads have followed. The Dighton, 
Somerset & Swansea was built in 1895, but did not give direct 
service into the city till May 5, 1903, the Newport road in 1898, 
and the Providence line in 1901. Electric express service was 
begun to New Bedford in 1903 and to Providence in 1905, and 
later to Taunton and Brockton, and a substantial freight house 
built on Bedford street in 1910. Electric street sprinkling 
dates from 1905. 

The steam road between this city and Providence was 
equipped with electricity in 1900. The first passenger car 
operated between the two cities by the new motive power 
was run Nov. 27, 1900, and regular operations began Dec. 2. 

During the administration of William S. Greene, who had 
been again elected mayor in 1895 and held office till 1898, 
the city began the erection of its present public library build- 
ing, which was authorized in 1895 and begun in May of the 
following year and which stands on the site of the homestead 
of the late Mrs. Mary B. Young. The cornerstone was laid 
Sept. 30, 1896, and the structure, which, with land, curbing, 
grading and furniture, had cost $252,000, was opened to the 
public in March, 1899. The library had for 13 years, after 

41 



the burning of city hall, been occupying leased quarters. It 
was for a time in Flint's Exchange on South Main street and 
later in the skating rink on Danforth street, but from January, 
1887, it occupied till the new building was completed a large 
hall in the upper part of the Brown building, at the corner 
of North Main and Pine streets. 

In 1895 a reservoir commission was appointed, whose 
duty was to protect the purity of the city's water supply. 
The Coughlin and William Connell schools were erected and 
a new police building constructed on the north side of 
Granite street. 

Amos M. Jackson was mayor in 1898 and 1899 and John 
H. Abbott in 1900 and 1901. 

The superior court house had been authorized as early as 
1887. The site selected on North Main street had been the 
birthplace of Col. Joseph Durfee, the homestead of Micah H. 
Ruggles and later the residence of Col. Richard Borden. The 
cornerstone was laid with Masonic ceremonies on August 8, 
1889, and the building completed in the early nineties, at a 
cost of $225,000. 

Another notable building constructed before 1900 was 
the state armory, on Durfee street, between Elm and Bank, 
for which the city on January 3, 1895, authorized the expendi- 
ture of $100,000, which sum was subsequently increased to 
$150,000. Bonds were issued by the state, eventually to be 
met by a sinking fund toward which the city each year paid 
a special tax. The building was completed in 1897, and con- 
tains quarters for six companies, and a drill hall 150 feet by 
75. The State has since taken possession of it. 

During the war with Spain, Battery M, of the First 
Regiment, and members of the Naval Brigade were employed 
in the service of the United States. The call for the assem- 
bling of the battery was issued on April 25, 1898, the day 
war was declared, and within an hour the men were assem- 
bled, armed and equipped. Early the next day they pro- 
ceeded to Fort Warren, in Boston harbor, where, on May 9, 
they were mustered into the United States service, for two 
years, being a part of the first volunteer regiment in the 
country to be mustered in. The Battery served at Fort 

42 



Warren until September 19, when it was sent to South 
Framingham. A furlough was granted October 5 and duty 
ended November 14. 

Company F, Naval Brigade, saw service on the cruiser 
Prairie the monitor Lehigh and, on occasions when the men 
were on detached duty, on other vessels. The Signal Corps 
was also called out. Company I, Naval Brigade, was formed 
May 25, 1898, as a reserve company. 

The present railroad station on North Mam street was 
completed in 1892. The county jail, noted for never having 
held a prisoner, at least under a sentence of the court, 
was erected in 1898, under a legislative act of the previous 
year, and cost, when furnished, $150,000. It has 126 cells, 
and was believed to be needed when it was authorized. The 
growth of the probation system since that time, however, has 
been such that it has never been used. 

One change, far-reaching in its effect, which had taken 
place during this period and of which no mention has been 
made was in the control of the police department and the 
liquor licenses, which took place in 1894. Citizens who 
appeared before the legislature secured the passage of an act, 
approved May 7, by which the administration of the police 
department and the granting and supervision of licenses for 
the sale of intoxicating liquors were taken from the board of 
aldermen and placed in the hands of a commission of three 
legal voters of the city appointed by the governor. Attempts 
at various times to abolish the commission have failed. 

The decade closed with a population in excess of 100,000. 
In spite of business depressions the city had grown till it 
numbered 104,863, an increase of 40 percent., while the valu- 
ation had advanced more than $20,000,000. Almost 900,000 
spindles had been added, and the aggregate was 3,042,472. 

The abolition of the grade crossings on the mam line 
of the Old Colony railroad and on the Providence branch 
within the city limits, was one of the most important improve- 
ments in the early years of the new century. The work 
began June 28, 1902, and was completed June 16, 1905 on the 
opening of the viaduct connecting Central and Anawan 
streets and the closing of the Pond street crossing. 



43 



The general plan followed, was that of depressing the 
streets and raising the tracks, which in some cases are now 
eight feet above the old level. The change also necessitated 
the raising of the Fall River station about eight feet. The 
old Central street tunnel, which had been constructed when 
the road was first built, was torn down and rebuilt for three 
tracks instead of one. Eleven crossings were abolished, two 
at Brownell street and one each at Davol, Lindsey, Turner, 
Danforth, Ferry and Pond streets, and Allen's crossing, Wil- 
son road and Riverview Gardens. Seven railroad bridges 
were built, and five highway bridges, one of which, the 
viaduct, is 637 feet in length. It was impossible to eliminate 
the grade crossing at Water street. 

Efforts had long been under way to secure the improve- 
ment, but quite a number of lives were sacrificed before 
work was authorized. It had been petitioned for by the 
aldermen in 1894, and the first hearing before the commis- 
sioners was in the following year. The total cost of the 
work was $1,580,051.16, of which the railroad paid 65 per 
cent., the state 25 and the city 10. The engineers' estimate 
of cost was $1,600,000. Most of the work of construction was 
done during the administration of George Grime, who was 
mayor from 1902 to 1904, inclusive. 

Another important matter was the adoption in 1902 of the 
present city charter, to take the place of that of 1854, which 
a majority of the citizens felt had been outgrown. A change 
had been urged for 30 years, but it was not until 1901 that a 
representative committee of 30 citizens presented a plan which 
was substantially adopted. The charter proposed by this 
committee, after some amendments, was passed by the legis- 
lature in 1902 and accepted by the voters at the State election 
on Nov. 4, 1902, by a vote of 6,835 to 3,689. It went into 
effect at the beginning of the municipal year in January, 1903, 
with Mr. Grime, who had just completed one year's service 
under the old charter, the first mayor under the new. 

The new charter abolished the common council, and 
established a board of aldermen of 27 members, three from 
each of the nine wards. Two of these were to be elected by 
the voters of the ward, and one by the voters of the entire 

44 



city. The terms of the members were made two years, one 
half to be elected each year, and it was provided that the 
presiding officer should be elected from the board by the 
members. The mayor's term, as well as that of the principal 
heads of departments, was made two years, and he was con- 
stituted strictly an executive officer, with control over the 
various departments except the schools and the police. A fire 
commission was established with a three years' term, and the 
same term was given to the members of the board of health. 
Many of the city officials were to be nominated by the mayor 
and confirmed by the aldermen. 

Mayor Grime in 1902 appointed the first park commission, 
in accordance with the overwhelming vote of the citizens in 
December, 1901, when by a vote of 6,563 to 1,159, they had 
accepted the State law authorizing such a commission. Olm- 
sted Brothers, landscape architects, were employed to prepare 
plans for the improvement of the park system, and the plans 
submitted by them were adopted. Loans were authorized, 
and nearly $200,000 expended within about four years, 
resulting in a very decided improvement of the park lands. 
Ruggles park was part of a tract of 12 acres formerly belong- 
ing to the "Rodman farm" and known as Ruggles Grove, pur- 
chased in 1868. Part of the tract had been taken for the 
extension of Pine and Seabury streets and the Ruggles 
school, and the section west of Seabury street was sold. 
The present park, of 84- acres, was dedicated for park purposes 
on June 10, 1895. 

The South Park, which contains 60 acres, had been pur- 
chased in 1868, and laid out between South Main street and 
Broadway in 1871, but the remainder was not improved until 
later. The North Park, 29 acres, was formerly a part of the 
city farm, but was set aside for park purposes in 1883, though 
little was done to develop it, until after the commission began 
its work. Work is being carried on at the present time. 

In addition to the three large parks, the commission was 
given control of Durfee Green, at the junction of Highland 
avenue and High streets, Cambridge Green, at the junction of 
Cambridge and Coral streets and Stafford road, Eastern avenue, 
and Plymouth avenue parkways and the cemeteries, and all 
have been made much more attractive than formerly. 

45 



Another board which did much valuable work for the city 
was the Reservoir Commission, established under a city ordi- 
nance passed on April 25, 1895. This Commission consisted of 
the mayor and city engineer ex-officio and three citizens 
appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the aldermen. In 
order to protect the purity of the water supply, the commis- 
sion has acquired nearly 3,000 acres of land, on both sides of 
the North Watuppa pond, at a cost of more than $200,000. In 
view of the possible necessity of diverting some of the streams 
that flow into the pond, an exhaustive study was made in 
1899, 1900 and 1901 of the capacity of the ponds, the amount 
of the discharge of the streams, the nature and extent of the 
watershed, evaporation, rainfall, and flow from the North 
into the South pond. This was done under the direction of 
the city engineer, with Arthur T. Safford of Lowell, consult- 
ing engineer, and in 1902 a voluminous and valuable report 
was made. The commission as originally constituted was 
abolished June 5, 1905, and its duties transferred to a new 
board made up of the three members of the water board and 
the mayor and city engineer ex-officio. 

In connection with the study of the water supply by 
engineers in the employ of the reservoir commission, an 
extended examination was made of the Quequechan river and 
of possible methods for improving it, so as to give the mills an 
adequate supply of cool water from the stream for condensing, 
even in the dryest seasons, make available for use a large 
amount of land, approximately 166 acres, near the center of 
the city which is now flowed in times of high water, and 
remove unsanitary and unsightly flats which are exposed at 
low water. The consulting engineer presented a report on 
the situation late in 1910, with three plans, either of which 
would greatly improve conditions. He proposed either a 
single canal, a canal with cooling ponds, or a canal for cool 
water only with channels to convey the hot water from the 
steam plants back to the pond. The estimated cost ranged 
from $685,000 to $740,000 and it was suggested that the land 
which could be reclaimed might, in the case of the first and 
third plans, repay the expenditure. The proposed work 
extends from the Sand Bar at the head of the river to the 

46 



Watuppa Dam, near Pleasant street, and if put into effect 
will, in the opinion of the engineer, be "an improvement for 
all time, which will build up the city, provide facilities for 
the mills and the public, and perhaps improve the character 
of the city so much that it will remain a permanent monument 
to the people who have this matter in charge." 

Surveys have been made, plans prepared and approved by 
the State Board of Health, and a report is now in the printer's 
hands showing the intention of the commission to construct 
along the westerly shore of the North Watuppa pond a con- 
duit to collect the drainage now entering the pond from the 
west, between Pleasant street and New Boston road, and 
delivering it into the South Pond, where it will be available 
for manufacturing purposes by corporations located on South 
Watuppa pond and Quequechan river but cannot menace the 
city's water supply in the North Pond. 

The strike of 1904 was the longest and the most disastrous 
in the history of the community. Nearly 30,000 operatives 
were idle the greater part of 26 weeks, from July 25 till Jan. 21 
of the following year, causing an estimated loss of $4,500,000 
in wages. Work was resumed following a conference in 
January with Governor Douglas at the state house between 
representatives of the manufacturers and the operatives, at 
which he agreed to investigate business conditions in the 
industry and report a margin between cotton and cloth on 
which an increase in the scale of wages should be paid. On 
his subsequent report a system of wage dividends based on 
the margin between the quotations for specified quantities of 
cotton and cloth went into effect, and continued until July 2, 
1906, when the wage scale prevailing before the strike was 
restored. 

Approximately 7,000 persons removed from the city dur- 
ing the strike which, however, had been marked by uniform 
good order. The census in the spring of 1904 had shown a 
population of 113, 602. That of 1905 revealed but 106,645, and 
it was not until 1908 that the city regained the ground it had 
lost. 

Important changes in the local banks had taken place in 
1903, following a state law which forbade national and 

47 



savings banks to occupy the same offices. In February of 
that year the Second National, which had rooms with the 
Five Cents Savings, was purchased by the Metacomet 
National, and in July the Pocasset National, which occupied 
an office with the Citizens Savings, and the National Union, 
which had been associated with the Union Savings, merged 
with the Massasoit to form a new bank know as the Massasoit- 
Pocasset National, which occupied the enlarged banking 
rooms of the old Massasoit National Bank. 

In the same year, 1903, a beginning was made in the lay- 
ing of granolithic sidewalks, under a betterment system, 
which has become very popular, and has done much to 
improve the appearance of the city. 

The Roman Catholic diocese of Fall River was established 
March 12, 1904, consisting of Bristol, Barnstable and Dukes 
counties, with the towns of Marion and Mattapoisett, in 
Plymouth county. Fall River was made the episcopal city 
and St. Mary's church named as the pro-cathedral. Rt. Rev. 
William Stang, D. D., was consecrated as the first bishop, 
at the cathedral in Providence, May 1, 1904, and on his death 
February 2, 1907, was succeeded by the present bishop, Rt. 
Rev. Daniel F. Feehan, D. D. Fall River had been a part of 
the diocese of Boston until 1872, when the diocese of Provi- 
dence was erected, which included this city. 

The Bradford Durf ee Textile School on Durfee street was 
opened to students on March 7, 1904, and has since proved so 
popular and successful that within a few years a large addi- 
tion was necessary, which was erected on Elm street and 
connected with the original building. The school first opened 
with 164 pupils and during the year of 1910-1911 had 50 day 
students and 900 evening pupils. It is free to citizens of the 
commonwealth, and is supported by appropriations by both 
the state and the city. 

The school is equipped with modern machinery and labora- 
tories, and, in the words of the catalogue, is designed "to 
meet the needs of two distinct classes of students: one class 
being those who wish a preliminary training in the art of 
manufacturing before entering upon the practical work in the 
mill; the other being those already at work in the mill, who 

48 



feel a necessity for a training in the principles of the art and 
a greater knowledge of all the departments of their chosen 
vocation.' ' 

In 1907 the cotton manufacturing industry of the city 
experienced a period of prosperity, in which the whole 
community shared. The product of the mills sold at the 
highest price since 1880 and was in such demand that even at 
these prices it was contracted for, months ahead. The profits 
were large and the mills were enabled to place themselves in 
a strong financial position. Dividends were increased and 
extra payments made to shareholders. The employes shared 
in the general prosperity through advanced wages and steady 
employment. The year's business was of inestimable value 
to the city, not only for the financial returns but also for 
the increased confidence it gave in the community's chief 
industry. 

A sliding scale of wages was agreed upon in May, 1907, 
which went into effect the last Monday in that month, and 
with modifications, remained in force for three years. It was 
for six months' periods, and was terminable by either party on 
three months' notice. It was discontinued in the last part of 
May, 1910, following notice by the textile unions that they 
desired to abrogate it and the failure of negotiations for its 
renewal. 

The agreement was entered into in a period of great 
prosperity, and under it wages were advanced to a high level. 
The subsequent year, however, business became less profita- 
ble, and the margin between cotton and cloth, on which the 
scale was based, declined to such an extent that in May, 
1908, wages were reduced under the agreement 17. 94 per cent., 
to a basis of 19.66 cents per cut for weaving. The margin 
continued to decrease, and in November of 1908, May, 1909, 
and November, 1909, the manufacturers were entitled under 
the scale to make additional reductions, in the last instance 
to the minimum of 18 cents per cut. They, however, waived 
their rights each time and maintained the scale at the 19.66 
cents level, on which wages are still based. 

John T. Coughlin was mayor of the city from 1905 to 1910, 
inclusive, and at the beginning of the municipal year of 1911 

49 



was succeeded by the present chief executive, Thomas F. 
Higgins. During Mr. Coughlin's administration the Samuel 
Watson school was completed and occupied in September, 
1906, and the new Lincoln school was completed and dedicated 
June 18, 1907. This replaced the old wooden building, erected 
in 1846, which was burned on Dec. 22, 1905. The Westall 
school was completed in 1908, permitting the closing of the 
Foster Hooper and June street buildings, and the fire station on 
Stanley street, at the Highlands was finished. In 1909, a new 
engine of 10,000,000 gallons daily capacity was installed at the 
pumping station. The William S. Greene school was completed 
and occupied in September. Three new schools were begun 
in 1910, the John J. McDonough on William and Fountain 
streets, the William J. Wiley on North Main and Canedy 
streets, and the Hugo A. Dubuque on Oak Grove avenue, and 
plans were prepared for a new technical high school on the site 
of the Foster Hooper and June street buildings, for which the 
contract was awarded in April, 1911. The hospital for con- 
tagious diseases was completed and opened for the use of 
tuberculous patients, and Purchase street extended to Court 
square, thus furnishing a new highway from the center of 
the city to the north. A fire station on Stafford road was 
completed in 1910. 

The fourth of the large tanks of the water department 
was constructed in 1907 on the south side of Bedford street. 
It has a capacity of 1,389,976 gallons, and is of about the 
same size as the first Bedford street tank, built in 1892, and 
that on Haskell street, built in 1897. The Townsend hill tank, 
the first to be constructed, was built in 1886, and holds 
1,161,448 gallons. The combined capacity of the four is 
5,306,593 gallons, about one day's supply for the city. 

Two large playgrounds were purchased by the park com- 
mission in 1909, under the provisions of a legislative act which 
had been accepted by the citizens by a decisive vote. The 
tract on Stafford road contained nearly 16 acres and cost 
$38,386.50. The land on Eastern avenue and County street, 
containing about IV ? acres, was bought for $42,513.91. The 
city also has playgrounds at the South, North and Ruggles 
Parks and at the corner of Canal and Spring streets. 

50 



The new bridge over the Taunton river at Brightman 
street, authorized by the legislature in 1903, to be constructed 
by a joint board consisting of the County Commission, the 
Harbor and Land Commission and the Railroad Commission, 
and begun in 1906, was opened to public travel Oct. 10, 1908, 
and furnished a new and attractive entrance to the city. It 
is 922^ feet in length, between abutments, 60 feet wide, with 
sidewalks eight feet in width, giving a roadway of 44 feet, 
and has a draw span of 118 feet. Its total cost to September, 
1910, was $1,014,102.17. Of this $528,824.28 was apportioned 
to be paid by Fall River, $8,112.82 by Somerset, $4,056.42 by 
Swansea, $38,738.71 by New Bedford, $13,183.33 by Taunton, 
$1,216.92 by Westport, $2,636.65 by Dartmouth, $1,521.15 by 
Dighton and the remainder by the County of Bristol. It was 
further ordered that 96 per cent, of the cost of care and 
maintenance should be borne by Fall River, 2h per cent, by 
Somerset and l£ per cent, by Swansea. 

Still another great work for which plans are being pre- 
pared and permission has been obtained from the legislature, 
is the building of a tunnel under the city by the New York, 
New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, to connect its 
main tracks along the bay with its New Bedford branch. 
This will, if constructed, give the railroad direct communica- 
tion through the city from New Bedford and the Cape to 
Providence and New York, thus avoiding the present circuitous 
route to the north. 

One of the recent additions to the city's public buildings 
is the district court house on Rock street, erected on the site 
of the Exchange Hotel, later the Gunn house, which in the 
period between 1830 and 1850 was the principal hotel of the 
town. It was completed early in the present year, and the 
first session of the court was held there on Jan. 23, 1911. 

The extent of the city's industries to-day is shown by 
figures recently made public by the census bureau, from an 
inquiry made here in 1909. The agents of the bureau reported 
here in that year 288 manufacturing establishments, with a 
capital of $82,086,000. The materials used cost $35,524,000, 
and the value of the product was $64, 146,000, showing a value 
added by manufacture of $28,622,000. The average number 
of wage-earners employed was 37, 139, and the total salaries 
and wages paid, $16,583,000. 

51 



THE GLOBE COTTON MILL 

The cotton mill that was started at Globe Village 100 
years ago by Colonel Joseph Durfee bore but little resemblance 
to any of the mammoth factories that have succeeded it, yet 
it was the beginning of the great industry which has since 
grown up here. 

It occupied a building at what is now the northeast corner 
of South Main and Globe streets, which is supposed to have 
been the building still standing, and probably contained less 
than 1000 spindles. The picking of the cotton and the weaving 
of the cloth were still done by hand, in the homes of neighbor- 
ing farmers, and the carding, spinning and finishing were 
probably all that were done in the pioneer mill. Its equip- 
ment is supposed to have been limited to a few Arkwright 
spinning frames, carders and probably a calender, and these 
were operated by the scant water power obtainable from the 
little pond adjoining. 

Col. Durfee's mill, known as the Globe Mill, was a stock 
company, and in soliciting subscriptions for the shares, the 
most effective argument is said to have been that " cotton 
cloth would darn much easier than linen." The success of 
the enterprise was not great at any time, due probably to 
want of practical knowledge, and in the end the venture 
appears to have been disastrous. The mill was operated by 
various persons, and in 1829 the building was converted into 
a print works. 

All honor, however, is due to Col. Durfee as a pioneer in 
the industry here. He was the son of Hon. Thomas Durfee, 
and a grandson of one of the original holders of a large tract 
in that section under the Pocasset Purchase. At the time of 
starting the mill he was 61 years of age. Eight others were 
associated with him in the ownership of the 100 shares in the 
enterprise, and their names appear in the deed given below. 

This deed is interesting not only as the first reference to 
the mill, in the town records of Tiverton, but also from the 
fact that it gives the names of the other original stockholders 

52 



and the amount of their holdings, and likewise furnishes an 
excellent example of the wording and spelling in the deeds of 
those days. It is as follows: 

Whereas I Joseph Durfee of Tiverton in the County of 
Newport Esq. am the sole owner and proprietor ot a certain 
lot or parcel of land lying in the Town of Tiverton aforesaid 
and is a part of my homestid through which a stream of water 
flowing from a certain pond called Cooks Pond doth pass 
whereon it is contemplated to Erect and put in motion a 
cotton factory and in order to effect the same I the said 
Joseph have thought fit to divide the lot with the privileges 
and appurtenances thereunto belonging into one hundred 
shares and to dispose of the same in the following Manner 

Now Know Ye that for and in consideration of the sum of Six 
hundred and Sixty dollars to me in hand paid by the Persons 
hereafter Named in manner following to (wit) by betn 
Simmons of Providence in the County of Providence carpenter 
four hundred and forty Dollars by Nathan Chase fifty five 
dollars by Boulston Brayton thirty three Dollars by William 
Durfee twenty two dollars all of Tiverton in the county ot 
Newport yeoman, Benjamin Brayton of Gray twenty two 
Dollars by Nathan Cole Sixty Six Dollars Ehsha Fuller Eleven 
Dollars Robert Hazard Eleven Dollars all of Rehobath in the 
County of Bristol and Commonwealth of Massachusetts the 
receipt whereof I the said Joseph do hereby acknowledge and 
with other considerations me thereunto moving have Granted 
Bargained and Sold unto the above Named persons Sixty 
Shares of the One Hundred Shares above mentioned (to wit) 
To Seth Simmons forty shears to Nathan Chase five shares to 
Boulston Bravton three Shares to William Durfee two shares 
to Benjamin Brayton two Shares to Nathan Cole Six Shares to 
Elijah Fuller one Share and to Robert Hazard one Share ot a 
Certain Lot of Land above mentioned, bounded as follows 
takeing its beginning at the Southwest Corner of said lot and 
Running South thirty five degrees East twenty Rods and two 
Links thence South twenty five degrees west Eleven Rods and 
twelve Lingths thence South Sixty Seven degrees and one 
quarter East twenty three Rod and two Links thence North 
thirty four Degrees East nineteen Rods and thirteen links 
thence North thirty five degrees west thirty one Rod eight 
links thence South Seventy three and half degrees West 
twenty two rods agreabale to the plat by Survey hereunto 
anexed reference being thereunto had for further particulars 

To Have And To Hold the Sixty Shares aforesaid with all the 

53 



privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging with a 
further and more particular privilidge (to wit) that of passing 
to and from the road to the head of the Stream by foot people 
for the purpose of opening and Shuting the Gate with privledge 
to Clear out the brook Springs and Streams as occation may 
require to them the said Seth Simmons Nathan Chase Bouls- 
ton Bravton William Durfee Benjamin Bray ton Nathan Cole 
Elisha Fuller & Robert Hazard the share above mentioned to 
them their heirs and assigns forever and I the said Joseph for 
my self heirs Executors and administrators do covenant to 
and with the afore Named Grantees that I am the true Sole 
and Lawful owner of the premises afore-discribed, and have 
good Right to Sell and Convey the same in manner as afore 
said and that I will warrant and Defend the Same against the 

Claims of all persons 

In witness whereof I have together with Elizebeth wife of me 

the sd. Joseph our hands and Seals the Sixth day of June 1811- 

Signed Sealed and Ded. 

in the presence of Joseph Durfee (Seal) 

Pardon Gray 

William Humphrey Elizbeth Durfee (Seal) 

Newport Ss at Tiverton in sd. County personally appeared the 

above Named Joseph Durfee and acknowledged the foregoing 

Instrument to be his Vaullentory act Deed hand & Seal this 

7th. day of October 1811- 

Before me Thos. Durfee Jus Peace 

A true Coppay of the original Deed 

Reed, on file at Tiverton October ye 11th day A.D. 1811 

at four o'clock P. M. 

Pardon Gray Town Clerk 

Following the records, it appears that in 1813 Oliver 
Chace purchased a controlling interest in the mill, and later 
in the same year, conveyed it to several persons. Charles 
Dyer and Benjamin Dyer each purchased from Mr. Chace 
25 shares, at $60 a share. Nine years later, in 1822, the 
Dyers conveyed their shares back to Oliver Chace. Each 
received $1388 for his interest, ' 'being, " as the deed states, 
' 'all right and title to the factory and other buildings, and 
machinery, tools and stoves belonging to the Globe Cotton 
Mill, standing on land aforesaid.' ' 

In 1830, for the sum of $1986, Oliver Chace sold to Cyrus 
Potter 71 undivided seventy-fifth parts of the Union Factory, 
lot, buildings, fixtures and machinery; also 22^ undivided 

54 



100th parts of the Globe Factory, lots and buildings thereon 
and other land. In 1832 Cyrus Potter sold to Charles Potter 
for $25 000 several parcels of land and buildings, including 
that "formerly known by the name of the Globe Mill and the 
Union Mill, now occupied and improved for bleaching, dyeing 
and printing calicoes." _ 

The venture, as has been said, was at no time notably 
successful, and Col. Durfee lost a large part of his fortune in 
the enterprise. It was subsequently operated by various 
persons, and in 1821, following the burning of the Troy Mi 1, 
the agent of that corporation was authorized by his stock- 
holders to negotiate for a five years' lease of the factory, with 
its real estate and machinery. It does not appear, however 
that such a lease was made. About 1829 it became a part of 
a print works operated first by Potter & Chatburn, who printed 
their first goods in September, 1830, and later known as the 
Tiverton Print Works, and finally as the Bay State Print Works. 
A part of the old mill was also for a time, between 1843 
and 1850, used temporarily as a schoolhouse by one of the 
Tiverton districts. . 

It is believed that printing machines were used m the old 
Globe Mill as late as 1845, when they were removed, from 
which time the building has been used for storage purposes. 
The attic was probably used for hanging the cloth after print- 
ing to "age" it, preparatory for dyeing. The water wheel, 
although perhaps not the original, was removed about 1850. 
The present building which is supposed to have been the 
original,measures 120 2-10 feet in length, 32 4-10 feet in width 
with a projection on the west side about 31 feet by 8 feet, and 
having three stories and an attic. It is now owned by the 
New England Cotton Yarn Co. and the Laurel Lake Mills. 

When the mill was started, cotton had been grown in this 
country for manufacture only 75 years. No factory for 
spinning it had been established in the United States till 1787, 
when a little mill operated by two horses driven by a boy, was 
started at Beverly, with a few jennies, each of which spun 
84 threads. Spinning frames were in use in England during 
the Revolution, but an act of Parliament, strictly enforced 
made it impossible to obtain the machines or their plans and 



55 



also forbade the emigration of skilled mechanics. Samuel 
Slater, an Englishman who had made himself master of the 
machinery and methods, knowing of the large sums offered 
in this country for the machines, managed to make his way 
to New York, and in 1790, having entered the employ of 
Moses Brown of Providence, undertook the manufacture of 
machinery of the English type at Pawtucket. He was 
successful, and one year later started a small mill there with 
machinery built on the Arkwright principle. 

The introduction of English machinery, together with the 
invention in 1793 of the cotton gin, by which one man could 
clean for market a thousand pounds of cotton in the time 
formerly taken to clean five or six pounds, gave an immediate 
impetus to the business, and many men who had learned it 
under Slater, left his employ to start plants of their own. By 
1809 there were in Providence and vicinity 17 mills, running 
14,296 spindles, and the United States census of 1810 showed 
238 mills, of which 54 were in Massachusetts, 28 in Rhode 
Island and 64 in Pennsylvania. 

It was not until 1838 that an English self-acting mule was 
brought to this country by William C. Davol. To escape the 
British laws, which still forbade the exportation of machinery, 
he went to England and after purchasing and cutting to 
pieces a Sharp & Roberts mule had it shipped to America by 
way of France in boxes labelled "Glass." On its arrival, he 
set it up in his own shop in Fall River, and subsequently 
manufactured many of these machines for American Mills. 



EARLY COTTON MANUFACTURING 



The year 1813 marked the beginning of cotton manufac- 
turing here on a substantial basis. In that year two com- 
panies were formed, the Troy Cotton & Woolen Manufactory, 
with a capital of $50,000, which is still in existence as a 
successful corporation, and the Fall River Manufactory, with 
$40,000 capital, which only a few years ago was purchased by 

56 



the Pocasset Mfg. Co. About one half the capital was secured 
in the neighboring towns. 

David Anthony, who became the first agent and treasurer 
of the Fall River Manufactory, was a native of Somerset, and 
was at this time only 26 years of age, but had acquired a 
thorough practical knowledge of the business under Slater at 
Pawtucket. A three-story mill, 60 by 40 feet, the lower story 
of stone and the upper two of wood, and designed for 1500 
spindles, was begun at once, on the Quequechan, the portion 
of which below the Troy dam is often alluded to as the Fall 
River, about where the mill now known as the Fall River 
Manufactory stands. It was completed and began operations 
in October, 1813, and was the first cotton spinning plant in the 
village. 

Oliver Chace, the originator of the Troy, had been brought 
up as a carpenter, but had acquired a practical knowledge 
of cotton manufacturing from a small mill which he had for a 
time owned and operated at Dighton. The Troy mill was 
larger than the Fall River and was built of stone, 108 feet 
long, 37 feet wide, four stories in height, with a low hip roof. 
It was located near the site of the present Troy mill, and was 
designed for 2,000 spindles. Both it and the Fall River were 
operated by water power derived from the Quequechan river. 

The Fall River Manufactory was the first to secure a 
picking machine, which had just been introduced in this 
country. The mills had been paying four cents a pound to 
have the cotton picked by hand, and the machine saved three 
quarters of the cost, though it was opposed by consumers, 
who believed that it injured the staple. 

The Fall River was also the first to introduce power 
looms, in 1817. The first weavers were paid $2.50 a week, 
but when they had become more experienced a change was 
made to one cent a yard. Cloth was woven one yard wide, 
and sold for 25 cents a yard. Power looms appear not to have 
been installed in the Troy mill until 1820. 

The two mills had been started before the close of the 
war of 1812, when American markets were closed to English 
manufacturers and the demand was brisk, but they had 
scarcely begun operations when the war ended, again allow- 



57 



ing the entrance of British goods, and it was not until 1820 
that the Troy paid its first dividend. Four years later it 
declared a dividend payable in cloth on demand. 

The original Troy mill was burned in 1821, but rebuilt in 
1823. In 1843 a three story addition was made, which ten 
years later was raised two stories and extended 80 feet on the 
south. In 1860, the mill of 1823 was removed, and the part 
known as the New Mill erected, five stories in height, extend- 
ing to Bedford street. 

The Fall River Manufactory's Nankeen Mill, and the 
original structure, known as the ''Yellow Mill," were torn 
down in 1839 to make room for the "White Mill". The latter 
was burned in 1868, and the present structure, since enlarged, 
succeeded it. 

The Union Cotton Factory was also started in 1813, with 
50 shares, held by 31 stockholders, and began operations in a 
wooden structure on the site of the Laurel Lake Mills, then a 
part of Tiverton. This was burned in 1838. 

The third large corporation to be formed was the Pocasset 
Mfg. Co., organized in 1822, with $100,000 capital. It 
acquired a considerable tract on both sides of the river, west 
of Main street, including the water power, and in 1827, after 
tearing down a grist mill which stood on the spot, erected on 
the north side of the stream, near the street, the ' 'Bridge Mill, ' ' 
a three-story stone structure, 40 by 100, with a long ell over 
the river. It installed 1,000 spindles, and manufactured the 
first print cloths made in this city,— seven-eighths of a yard 
wide and 44 picks to the inch. It was burned, together with 
the old fulling mill, which stood further south, in the fire of 
1843, and the company soon after erected near the site, the 
present Granite Block. A few years later it constructed a 
part of its present mill, 219x75, and five stories in height, by 
far the largest factory which had, up to this time been built 
here, and notable for its width as well as its other proportions. 
It began operations in 1847. ' 

Early in its career the company had built a number of 
small stone mills to rent. In one of these, known as the 
Satinet Factory and built in 1825, was manufactured a woolen 
cloth from which the mill took its name. In part of this same 

58 



building the Robeson Print Works was started. It was torn 
down to make room for the present mill. The company also 
built in 1826 the "New Pocasset," which was leased for 
cotton manufacturing. 

One of these mills is still standing and operated as a part 
of the Pocasset plant of to-day. This is a small mill on 
Pocasset street, west of the main plant, built in 1827 and 
known first as the Massasoit and later as the Watuppa. It 
was leased in part to Brown & Ives of Providence for cotton 
manufacturing, but they became dissatisfied and sold out to 
Holder Borden, who opened the partitions and equipped the 
whole mill with cotton machinery. He discarded the old 
methods of distributing power by gearing, and was the first 
to introduce belting. The mill was equipped with 9,000 
spindles, and was considered a wonder for size. 

The lease ran out about 1843, and the proprietors then 
erected on Davol street, the Massasoit Steam mill, so desig- 
nated because it was one of the first, if not the first here to 
be operated by steam rather than water power. It was 
burned in 1875, and the site is now occupied by the Massasoit 
Mfg. Co. The 1827 mill, originally known as the Massasoit, 
was for a time run by a corporation known as the Watuppa 
Cotton Mill, and in time became a part of the Pocasset 

plant. 

Still another early mill was the Annawan, which stood on 
Pocasset street where the Iron Works No. 7 now is, and was 
torn down when that was erected in 1905. It was built in 
1825, a large factory for its day, and continued in operation 
until about 1890. 

In addition to the mills named, there was also a plant for 
the manufacture of cotton batting, owned by I. Buffinton & 
Son, and carried on first at Sucker Brook, and subsequently 
on the site of the Fall River Bleachery on the same stream. 
It was established in 1838. 

At the time these early mills were built, work began at 
5 a. m., or. at daylight and continued until 8, when half an 
hour was allowed for breakfast. Another half hour was 
given at noon for dinner, and work then continued till 7:30 in 
the evening. 



59 



The superintendent of a mill in 1830 received $2 a day, an 
overseer $1.25 and the' majority of operatives from 83 cents 
to one dollar a day. 

The Pocasset mill of 1847 which, it will be remembered, 
was of phenomenal size, for its day, was the result of the 
conviction of its superintendent, that a large mill could be 
operated more economically than the small ones then running, 
and though there were those who predicted failure, the mill 
justified his anticipations. This was also the first mill to be 
erected in which details had been carefully worked out, before 
beginning construction, as to the location of machinery, 
shafting and belting, a plan which resulted in a great saving 
over the old methods. 

The Metacomethnill, when built in 1846 by the Iron Works 
Co., was constructed from the plans of a model mill in Bolton, 
England, and was the first to have iron posts and girders, 
thereby preventing a settling of the mill, with consequent 
friction and loss of power. The mill attracted great attention 
from manufacturers in other parts of New England. 

The American Linen Co. was formed in 1852 to make the 
finer grade of linen fabrics, the first enterprise of the kind 
in the country. Operatives and flax were imported from 
Europe, and for a time there was an active demand for the 
product. This fell off, however, in consequence of the 
increasing use of cotton and woolen fabrics, and in 1858 the 
linen machinery was removed and cotton manufacturing 
begun. 

OTHER INDUSTRIES 

In addition to the many plants engaged in the manufacture 
of cotton cloth, the larger industries of Fall River include two 
print works, a bleachery, mills for the making of cotton yarn 
and sewing thread, extensive hat factories, a piano factory, 
machine shops, foundries and mills for the utilization of cotton 
waste and the making of absorbent and jewelers' cotton. 
There are also three large breweries, now under one manage- 
ment. 

60 



Probably the best known of these plants is the American 
Print Works, which was established by Holder Borden and 
others in 1834, and began operations in January, 1835, with a 
capacity of 2,000 pieces a week. The plant was gradually 
enlarged, and in 1854 had increased its capacity to 9,000 pieces. 
Large buildings of stone were erected in 1867 to replace 
the original buildings of wood but burned late in that year. 
They were at once rebuilt, but the uninsured loss had been 
so large that in 1879, suspension became necessary. In 
1880 a new corporation was formed known as the American 
Printing Co., with a capital of $300,000, since increased to 
$750,000. The plant has been steadily increased until it is now 
the largest in the United States and operates 30 printing 
machines, with a weekly capacity of 100,000 pieces, which are 
sold all over the world. The corporation owns all the stock of 
the Fall River Iron Works Co. , which in the last 20 years has 
erected six large mills and remodelled one other and now 
operates 488,000 spindles and employs 5,000 hands. M. C. D. 
Borden of New York, a native of this city, controls the 
business. 

Another print works is that of the Algonquin Printing 
Company, incorporated in 1891. This has grown from a plant 
having a weekly capacity of 3,600 pieces to 40,000, and now 
operates 12 machines and employs some 350 hands. 

Earlier print works, no longer in operation, included 
Robeson's, known as the Fall River, and the Globe Print 
Works, later known as the Bay State. Robeson's print works. 
the first in this city, had been started on the stream, west of 
the Pocasset Mfg. Co., by Andrew Robeson of New Bedford, 
in 1826. The work was for a time done by hand by the block 
process, which, indeed, continued to be used till 1841, but in 
1827 what was probably the first printing machine in the 
United States was set up and was operated successfully for 
many years. The depression of 1848 forced a suspension and 
reorganization and about 1860 cotton machinery was intro- 
duced. The plant was run as the Quequechan mill until the 
early 80's. 

Mr. Robeson bought and printed the first print cloths 
made in Fall River, He departed from the custom of ' 'store 

61 



pay, " by which employees were paid in goods from a store 
owned by the factory, then in use here, in common with other 
manufacturing communities, and gave cash, thus allowing his 
employees to buy wherever they pleased. The change was so 
satisfactory that company stores soon disappeared. Another 
act for which he is remembered, is the furnishing a school 
room and teacher for his juvenile employees, to whom he 
allowed one third of each day for study. 

The Globe Print Works were at Globe Village, on the stream 
flowing from Cook Pond into the bay. They were the succes- 
sors of Col. Durfee's pioneer mill, which had been purchased 
in 1829 by Potter and Chatburn and converted into a print 
works, beginning operations in 1830. The plant was enlarged 
and run by various persons and was known for a time as the 
Tiverton and afterward as the Bay State Print Works. About 
1858 it was purchased by the American and run by this cor- 
poration till it was burned in 1867. 

The Fall River Bleachery, which has a capacity of 50 tons 
daily, was organized in 1872 on the site of the mill of I. 
Buffinton & Son, and began operations the following year. 
The No. 2 works were built in 1888, and additional buildings 
have been erected in recent years. 

The two large yarn manufacturing plants, which have 
a combined spindleage of 131,000, are now a part of the New 
England Cotton Yarn Co. and under lease to the Union Mills, 
but were formerly the Globe Yarn Mills and the Sanford 
Spinning Co. The Globe Yarn, started in 1881, and repeatedly 
enlarged, produces weekly 140,000 pounds of yarn and thread, 
and employs 750 hands, while the Sanford Spinning, started 
in 1891, to make colored and fancy yarns, produces 120,000 
pounds a week and employs 550 hands. 

The Kerr Thread Mill was built in 1888, for the manu- 
facture of fine cotton yarns and sewing thread. It became a 
part of the American Thread Co. in 1898. A new mill was 
erected in 1907, and the plant now has 105,000 spindles, 
employing 1100 hands. 

The Massasoit Mfg. Co. and the Estes Mills are engaged 
in the handling of waste. The product of the Massasoit, in 
addition to various grades of cotton waste, includes mops, 

62 



yarns, wicks, and spun and bleached cotton, while the Estes 
Mills produce sash cord, yarns, mops, twines, warps, clothes 
lines, wicking, absorbent and jeweler's cotton as well as waste 
of a variety of grades. The Massasoit has a large foreign 
trade, and additional plants in Connecticut and the South. 

The plant of Kilburn, Lincoln & Company is among the 
large makers of looms for cotton and silk weaving and of 
power transmission machinery in the United States and makes 
about 5,000 looms annually, giving employment to about 300 
hands. It is the outgrowth of the union in 1847 under the 
name of E. C. Kilburn & Co. of the loom-making and shafting 
business which had been established previous to 1840 by 
Jonathan Thayer Lincoln and that started in 1844 by John 
Kilburn. In 1856 this became Kilburn, Lincoln & Son and in 
1867 took its present name and a large machine shop and an 
iron foundry were erected the same year, and other additions 
have followed. 

A large iron business was formerly carried on here by the 
Fall River Iron Works Company, which at one time, about 
1876, gave employment to 600 men. It was started in 1821 
by Bradford Durfee and Richard Borden for the manufacture 
of iron work for shipbuilding and later made hoop iron for the 
New Bedford oil trade and still later, nails. It was immensely 
successful for many years, and was the principal originator 
of the Annawan and Metacomet Mills, the gas works, the 
steamboat line to Providence and the railroad to South Brain- 
tree. From an original investment of $18,000 its stockholders 
received between 1850 and 1880 $3,073,000, besides stock in the 
Troy Cotton & Woolen Manufactory, the Fall River Manufac- 
tory, the American Print Works and the Bay State Steamboat 
Company, later the Fall River Line. In 1880 the property 
was divided and the stockholders given shares in new cor- 
porations known as the Metacomet Mills, the Fall River 
Machine Company, the Fall River Gas Works Company and 
the Fall River & Providence Steamboat Company. The 
manufacture of iron was discontinued soon after in conse- 
quence of the competition of plants nearer the mines. 
Shortly after 1896 the stock was acquired by M. C. D. Borden, 
who retaining the old charter, which was of value, tore down 

63 



the buildings and began the erection of cotton mills to supply 
cloth for the American Printing Company of which he was 
also the owner. 

The extensive powers given by the charter of the Fall 
River Iron Works Company, if more than accidental, indicated 
a long view into the future. Though organized primarily to 
carry on the iron business, the company from time to time 
launched into many and varied lines as its growth demanded 
or as opportunity made desirable. When, for example, the 
iron business was removed from its original location near the 
outlet of the Quequechan, to that adjoining High Hill, in order 
to utilize the former site the company built the Metacomet 
Mill for the manufacture of cotton cloth. It had already 
found that Providence was a good market for the product of 
its iron mills, and had accordingly purchased a site and erected 
a substantial wharf there, near which it also constructed a 
brick office building and storehouse, which was maintained 
until the closing of the works. 

As from time to time increased facilities were needed, the 
company provided them for its own use, but always looking 
forward to the time when others would avail themselves of 
the opportunities offered. Under this policy it built gas 
works, and a cooper shop for the making of nail kegs, as well 
as carpenter, blacksmith and machine shops, the last occupy- 
ing the building vacated by the Fall River Railroad on its 
consolidation with the Old Colony Railroad. When it needed 
additional machinery for the nail factory, it built it here. It 
also added a boiler shop, and wharves, one of which became 
known as ''Derrick Wharf," because of the large derrick 
erected there for the handling of boilers and other machinery 
for steamboats. The desire to obtain a location where larger 
vessels could dock at any stage of the tide was one of the 
prime factors in bringing about the removal of the works to 
their new location. 

All work was done by employees of the company. In 
wharf building no divers were to be had, and the method 
employed was that of "poling", that is, the location of the 
stone was determined by feeling under the water in the mud 
with a long wooden pole for which an iron rod was later 

64 



substituted. In this way many of the present walis were 

built. 

After the company opened an agency in Providence, 
means of transportation became necessary, and the estab- 
lishment of the Fall River & Providence Steamboat line 
naturally followed. 

The Fall River & Providence Steamboat Company was 
noted for its regularity and punctuality. When the sailing 
time arrived, the boat sailed, leaving for the next trip such 
passengers and freight as were not on board. In order to 
fill promptly the orders of the Providence agency, the steamers 
sailed every day, except Sunday, though in severe winter 
weather it sometimes made necessary the employment of a 
large number of men with saws and other tools to cut a way 
through the ice from the wharf. Occasionally in mid-winter 
it was necessary to cut a channel in this way as far as Mount 
Hope and sometimes even to Bristol Ferry. 

The steamer King Philip was built as an ice-breaker, 
and met her designer's expectations. In meeting ice, her 
bow rose and slid along the top till the boat's weight caused 
it to break. She was also the first steamboat in American 
waters to carry a steam whistle. 

The company, which also owned wharf property and 
buildings at Bristol and Bristol Ferry, found it necessary to 
dredge its docks from time to time, and accordingly built a 
dredger of its own, the power for which was furnished by six 
horses driven around a circle in the hold. 

As the iron works grew and castings became necessary, 
a large foundry was built on the north side of Mill street, a 
short distance east of Pond street. 

The company deemed it unwise to undertake coal mining, 
but several of its owners purchased a large tract at Frostburg, 
Md., and mined coal which was sold in the open market as 
well' as to the Iron Works Co. This venture, like the others, 
was very profitable. 

The same owners, with others, also built vessels to bring 
coal, iron, iron ore, etc., to the works and to carry away the 
finished product. These had a carrying capacity of from about 
100 to 450 tons, and among them were the sloops Ann B. 



65 



Holmes and Isaac H. Borden and the schooners Sea Bird, 
Minerva, Richard Borden, Ellen Barnes, Jane F. Durfee, 
Irani Smith, Enoch Pratt, Daniel Brown, Sallie Smith, Orion, 
Saphronia, Anna M. Edwards, Ney, Martha Wrightington, 
Thomas Borden, Matthew C. Durfee, Carleton Jayne and 
Fountain. 

A marine railway was early a part of the company's 
plant. This was originally near the present wharf station, 
but was later removed to a point on the shore where the 
company's cotton mills now stand. The railway's buildings 
were leased to various persons, who maintained shipyards till 
about the time of the sale of the property to M. C. D. Borden. 
The last vessels were built here in the early 70s and were the 
schooners D. M. Anthony and Carrie S. Hart and the barken- 
tine David A. Bray ton, all of about 800 tons capacity. 

Feeling that the Fall River Line was not making fair 
freight rates to New York, local parties in 1866 purchased 
from the government the steamer United States and estab- 
lished an independent freight line. Subsequently, the Alba- 
tross was bought from the same source, and the line was 
continued for some years, but was finally taken over by the 
older company. 

The first freighter used in these waters is supposed to 
have been the sloop Irene and Betsey, owned by Richard and 
Jefferson Borden, which was probably the forerunner of the 
Fall River & Providence Steamboat Company. 

The latter company, as it was the first to install a steam 
whistle on its steamers, was also the first to equip a vessel 
with a calliope. The Canonicus carried such an instrument, 
but it was soon found that its music, while pleasing at a 
distance, was not satisfying to those on board and it was 
removed. There was also difficulty in obtaining sufficient 
steam for both the engines and the calliope. 

Among the earlier excursion steamers in the harbor were 
the Jennie Lind, the Teaser, the Young American and Water 
Lily which were run between Taunton and points along the 
bay. The Teaser was a ''stern-wheeler", or "wheelbarrow", 
having a paddle wheel at the stern, extending the entire 
width of the boat. This type was then common and is still 

66 



seen on southern inland waters where only light draught 
vessels can be used. 

The beginning of what afterward became the Dyer 
Transportation Company was in the square-ended scow 
schooner Nimrod, used by Capt. Henry Dyer, who, tiring of 
his occupation as a tailor, turned master mariner. The 
scarcity of wharves did not inconvenience him, for he ran his 
schooner on the shore when the tide was full, so that she 
could be loaded or discharged at low tide from wagons that 
had driven alongside. When the tide was high again, sail 
was made, and the craft departed for the next port. She 
was run to Newport, Providence, Taunton, and, at times, to 
New Bedford. She was followed by the Dart, built in 1837, 
which was supplanted by the Caroline, built here in 1858, and 
later by the steamer William Marvel, which connected at 
Providence with steamship lines for Philadelphia, Norfolk 
and Baltimore. 

The large hat-making business of James Marshall & Bros., 
employing 1500 hands, has grown from a small hat concern 
moved here from Bridgeport, Conn., about 1887, until now it 
makes 7,200 dozen derby hats a day, as well as soft hats and 
hats for women and children, and has lately established a 
department for the making of straw hats. The New England 
Fur Cutting Company was organized in 1893 for cutting hat- 
ters' fur and skins for fur garments, and the making of fur 
caps, muffs, etc. In a single year this plant now uses more 
than 9,000,000 rabbit skins in producing fur not only for the 
hat factory but also for other manufacturers throughout the 
country. 

The Cote Piano Mfg. Co., which began business on 
Pocasset street some years ago, and subsequently moved to 
Alden street, has become one of the largest factories of its 
kind in the United States. It makes every part of the piano 
and employs 375 hands. Last year it manufactured 7,000 
instruments. 

The making of braids, loop banding, lacings, etc., has 
also become a considerable industry in recent years, and 
several plants are devoted to the production of goods known 
under the general name of narrow fabrics, to which have 

67 



been added in some cases, cotton rope and clothes lines. The 
most recent is the Standard Fabric Co. , which has a capital 
of $150,000, and is now erecting a mill in the eastern section. 

A large machine shop was formerly operated on Pond 
street by a firm that in the latter part of its history was known 
as Marvel & Davol. It made machinery for cotton manufac- 
turing, specializing on mules, and in 1870 employed 250 men. 
It was established in 1821, in a building of the Pocasset Mfg. 
Co., as Harris, Hawes & Co. and afterward became O. S. 
Hawes & Co. and still later, in 1841, Hawes, Marvel & Davol. 
The name was changed to Marvel & Davol in 1857, and the 
shops subsequently purchased and operated by the Fall River 
Machine Co. until after 1900. 

During the height of the whaling from this port, between 
1840 and 1850, an oil refinery was carried on in a stone build- 
ing still standing on Pardee & Young's Wharf, then known as 
the "Oil Companies Wharf." 

The manufacture of oil cloth was another early industry. 
There were at one time three plants engaged in this business, 
one on the shore, south of the American Linen Co., one on 
Bedford street and one at Bowenville. 

The city has large quarries of excellent granite, from 
which several important buildings have been constructed, 
notably the city hall, Granite Block, St. Mary's cathedral and 
the Slade school. The lower story of the B. M. C. Durfee 
high school building is also of this material, which has like- 
wise been used in the building of wharves and in the con- 
struction of many of the mills. Fall River granite has also 
been used in some buildings at Newport, R. I. The quarries 
are in the eastern section, and give employment to a consider- 
able number of men. 



WATUPPA RESERVOIR COMPANY 

Through history passed down from one generation to 
another, we learn that very early in the nineteenth century a 
primitive dam had been constructed across the Quequechan 
river in the vicinity of the present Watuppa dam, for the 

68 



purpose of providing a constant supply of water for a small 
business (the nature of which is unknown) carried on at that 
point. On the building of the Troy Cotton & Woolen Manu- 
factory in 1813 this dam gave way to the dam of that company, 
by which the water in the river was raised to a point three 
feet above its original level. As business along the Queque- 
chan increased, it became evident that if the mills were to run 
throughout the year, the waters of the Watuppa ponds must 
be stored in times of flood for use in time of drought. Accord- 
ingly, in 1826, an act of the Legislature (Mass. Special Laws of 
1826, Chapter 31) was obtained, incorporating the Watuppa 
Reservoir Company. The names of the incorporators being as 
follows: David Anthony, Nathaniel B. Borden, Oliver Chace, 
and Bradford Durfee. The object of the incorporation, as given 
in the Act, was/ 'for the purpose of constructing a reservoir 

of water in the Watuppa ponds for the benefit of 

the manufacturing establishments on Fall River; and, for this 
purpose, shall have all the privileges and immunities, and be 
subject to all the duties and requirements contained in an act 
passed on the third day of March in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and nine ' 'entitled an act defining the 
general powers and duties of manufacturing corporations/' 
and the several acts in addition thereto." 

Section 2 of this act provided that the company should 
have power "by erecting a dam across the outlet of said ponds 

to raise the water in said ponds, two feet higher 

than the dam already erected by the Troy Cotton and Woolen 

Manufactory." 

Section 4 provided "that the capital stock of said corpora- 
tion shall be divided into one hundred shares." 

Section 5 provided that said corporation should be "liable 
for damages to any person by flooding." 

Preparing to act under authority given, the company 
proceeded to settle with the owners of land adjacent to the 
Quequechan river and to each of the two Watuppa ponds for 
the damage they were to sustain by the flowage of their land. 
Most of these settlements were easily obtained. In some 
cases, however, the price demanded and received was quite 
large! In quite a number of instances, public spirited indi- 



69 



viduals refused to make any claim, believing^it a work of 
great public benefit which should be assisted rather than dis- 
couraged. 

That the business of this time was conducted by men 
possessing great foresight is attested by the fact that the 
company refused to take advantage of any person's liberality 
and insisted on paying for the privilege, even if but a nominal 
sum. Such sums were received with a "Thank you", and the 
agent in every case took a receipt for the money paid. This 
receipt found safe lodgement in the company's strong box 
and was found of great value later. 

The Watuppa dam now standing in the rear of the Troy 
building was constructed under authority of this act, and is 
capable of holding the waters of the Watuppa ponds at an 
elevation five feet above the original height of the ponds, 
thereby increasing the capacity of the ponds 5,133,234,600 
gallons. It is easy to understand the difficulties encountered 
in the running of machinery on a stream where from six to 
eight months of the year flood conditions prevailed, while 
during the remainder of the year there were times when very 
little water could be depended upon. Owing to the long work- 
day then the rule (often extending from daylight to dark) 
the quantity of water used was much in excess of what would 
be required at the present time. 

The Watuppa Reservoir Company is still in existence, its 
stock being held by several of the mills located on the river. 

Until within a few years this company held absolute con- 
trol of the water in the Quequechan but by the terms of a recent 
agreement, such control (under certain restrictions) is vested 
in the Fall River Iron Works Company or its management. 

The original outlet of the river was into the creek south 
of Central street mentioned elsewhere. 

About 1835 a canal was constructed to conduct the water 
into what is known as Crab pond. This pond was formed by 
the construction of a dam across the outlet of a body of salt 
water originally known as ''Long pond" in which the tide 
ebbed and flowed but which was at low tide a pond. The 



Note— None of the mills now depend exclusively on water for power. 

70 



depth of water was thereby increased about fourteen feet, 
adding greatly to its capacity. This for many years furnished 
power for the American Print Works and the Fall River Iron 
Works and is still used by the printing company in connection 
with its business. For many years ice was cut here for 
domestic use. An ice house stood on the west side of the pond 
on what was known as "High Hill," and near by stood a stone 
"powder house" owned by the Iron Works Company. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE POWER FOR THE 
MANUFACTORIES 

During the earlier period of the development of manu- 
facturing, the plants were small and could not be very large 
as the available water power was limited, and the water 
wheels were crude, clumsy and inefficient. 

The water wheels first installed were probably of the type 
known as the breast wheel, which was not so efficient as the 
more modern type of turbine water wheels. The first tur- 
bines were made with revolving shaft vertical and a pair 
of bevel gear wheels to transmit the rotation of the vertical 
shaft to a horizontal shaft. Later horizontal water wheels of 
higher speed having the revolving shaft horizontal and the 
power transmitted therefrom by belts, were installed in most 
of the plants on the Quequechan river. 

The height of fall and power of the several plants were 
as follows: „ . , 

Height of fall Power 

Troy Cotton & Woolen Mfg. 10 to 15 ft. 150. 6 H. P. 

Pocasset Mfg. Co. 21.67 " 225.4 

Quequechan 21.00 " 218.4 

Watuppa 15.38 ' 160. 

Fall River Print Works 10.00 104. 

Fall River Mfy. 14.46 " 150.4 

Annawan Mfy. 14.73 " 153.2 

Metacomet Mfg. Co. 16.18 148.2 

The last mentioned discharging into tide water, varied in 
height of fall and power and the Troy varied as to fall and 
power according to the height of water in the pond. 

71 



When the demand for larger capacity in the manufac- 
tories became more pressing the power was supplemented by 
the steam engine. As the supply of water decreased from 
drought and overusing the flow of the stream, larger engines 
were installed, capable of driving the whole of the machinery. 
Until this time the mills on the Quequechan river having all 
the available water power were the only factories built, except 
some at Globe Village. When the steam engine was required 
by these mills, it placed them in a position to invite competi- 
tion and other factories were erected in various parts of the 
town. 

The Massasoit Steam Mills, situated on Davol street near 
the shore of the bay, was probably the first factory in Fall 
River driven wholly by steam power. This mill was erected 
about 1845 and destroyed by fire in 1875. 

The next factory driven entirely by steam power was the 
Wamsutta Steam Woolen Mills situated near Pleasant street on 
the shore of the upper Quequechan river from which it derived 
the water used for making steam and for condensing the steam 
after passing through the engine. This mill was erected in 
1849 and still stands. 

The Union Mill on Pleasant street was one of the earlier 
steam driven factories and was erected about the year 1860 
just before the Civil War. 

This factory was the first in town to be heated in winter 
with exhaust steam from the engine. 

This engine was one of the Corliss type afterwards famous 
throughout the manufacturing world. It was in fact, two 
single cylinder engines having a common shaft with cranks on 
each end. The steam entered the cylinder pushing forward the 
piston part of the stroke then the supply was cut off and the 
steam in the cylinder expanded to about atmospheric pressure, 
when it was allowed to escape into another chamber and 
condensed, forming a vacuum on the return stroke of the 
piston thus increasing the power about 25 per cent over the 
non-condensing type. One of the two cylinders was so made 
that the exhaust from each end was separated. In cold 
weather the steam from both ends was exhausted and used 
for heating the buildings and for dressing the warps for the 
looms. 

72 



In warm weather when no heat was required in the build- 
ing only steam from one end of the cylinder was exhausted 
for dressing the warps, the steam from the other end being 
exhausted into the condenser. 

When this engine was installed it was understood the 
contract stipulated that the price for the steam plant should 
be a certain sum or the saving for a period of time, over the 
former manner of running engines in factories. 

This was an unusual proposition and after running the 
plant as designed, for only a short time, the management saw 
that it was for its advantage to pay the stipulated amount 
at once rather than pay over the saving for the length of time 
proposed, as the economy was so great and satisfactory. 

This form or type of engine was used in most of the 
subsequent factories erected until the building of the Globe 
Yarn Mills No. 2 in 1886-7 when the first compound condensing 
engine was installed. The compound engine consisted of two 
cylinders, the smaller one called the high and the other the low 
pressure cylinders. The steam first entered the high pressure 
cylinder and after following the piston part of the stroke 
the supply was cut off and the steam in the cylinder allowed 
to expand to about eight to ten pounds pressure when it was 
exhausted into the larger cylinder and expanded in same to a 
vacuum by condensing the steam on the return stroke, thus 
increasing the power derived from the same amount of steam 
that was formerly used in the simple condensing type of 
engine heretofore used. 

Since that time most of the factories erected have in- 
stalled compound engines and nearly all of the older mills 
have replaced the simple condensing engines with the com- 
pound condensing type. 

The economy of the compound condensing engine over 
the simple condensing type is about 33 per cent, or, in other 
words, it requires in the modern compound condensing engine 
less than two thirds the amount or weight of steam, that is 
required in the simple condensing engine, which in our mill 
plants of large powers amounts to a considerable saving. 

Of late years the electric drive has come into use in many 
cases, especially when the power is to be transmitted some 

distance from the engine. 

73 



The electricity is usually produced on the mill plant by 
direct connection of the generator with the steam engine, and 
the current of electricity sent over suitable wires or cables to 
the motors in the various buildings or rooms of the factory. 

Systems have been introduced of compound non-con- 
densing engines which furnish part of the power required, 
and which is transmitted direct to the shafting in the factory 
by belts, and the steam, in place of being condensed from the 
engine, is passed on through suitable pipes into a low pressure 
steam turbine and afterwards condensed, forming a very high 
vacuum, thus producing additional power without increase of 
the amount of steam used. 

This combination of compound engine and low pressure 
turbine makes an increased economy of sixteen to twenty per 
cent, over the usual compound condensing engine. 

This arrangement brings the power question up to date 
and highest economy. The power used in our modern factories 
varies according to the size of the plant, in some cases being 
as high as 2500 to 3000 horse power while in the mills of the 
earlier periods of our history the power used was probably 
not much more than 125 to 200 horse power according to the 
fall of the water. Speed of engines has increased from less 
than 50 to 120 revolutions per minute or a piston speed of 960 
feet per minute, and a belt speed of over a mile per minute. 

BANKS AND BANKING 

With four national banks, a trust company, four savings 
banks and four co-operative banks, Fall River furnishes ample 
financial facilities to all. The history of the institutions shows 
not a single failure in their long career. 

Fall River was one of the earliest communities in the 
United States to establish a savings bank, it was also one of 
the first to start a five cents savings bank, and the more than 
$22,000,000 in deposits now standing to the credit of the 55,000 
depositors in the four savings institutions show the value of 
these banks to the community and the extent to which they 
are appreciated. The same may be said, and with equal 

74 



justice, of the more than 40,000 shares in local co-operative 
banks now outstanding, representing a sum in excess of 
$2,000,000 due to shareholders. 

The four national banks of the city showed by recent 
reports in 1911 a combined capital of $2,200,000, deposits of 
$6,354,000 and surplus and undivided profits of $1,589,000 
while the B. M. C. Durfee Safe Deposit & Trust Co. reported 
deposits of $2,363,000 and surplus and undivided profits of 
$460,000. 

The oldest of the city's banks is the Fall River National, 
incorporated in 1825 as the Fall River Bank, and for over 20 
years the only bank of discount here. It became a national 
institution in 1864. Its first building was of brick on the site 
occupied by the present banking house, and was erected in 
1826. It was burned in 1843 but rebuilt. The building now 
occupied was erected in 1892. 

The oldest of the saving banks is the Fall River Savings 
Bank, which was chartered in 1828, only 12 years after the 
establishment of the first savings bank in the country. It was 
first known as the Fall River Institution for Savings, but 
changed the name to the present title in April, 1855. It was 
located in the office or store of the man who was its treasurer 
at the time, until about 1844, when it occupied a part of the 
rooms now used by the Fall River Five Cents Savings Bank, 
removing to its present building in 1869. 

The National Union Bank was chartered in 1823 as the 
Bristol Union Bank of Bristol, R. L, but removed to Tiverton 
in 1830, changed its name to the Fall River Union Bank and 
erected a brick building on the corner of South Main and 
Rodman streets in 1837. The change in the boundary line 
in 1862 brought it within Massachusetts territory, and it 
removed to the southwest corner of city hall. It became the 
National Union Bank in 1865 and again removed to Number 3 
Main street, where it occupied quarters with the Union 
Savings Bank till it was merged with the Massasoit-Pocasset 
in 1903. 

The Massasoit Bank, organized in 1846, became a national 
institution in 1864. Its office was at the corner of North Main 
and Franklin streets till 1876, when it removed to the north- 

75 



east corner of Main and Bedford. In 1884, it again transferred 
its office to the northwest corner of Bedford street and 
Court Square, and in 1889 it erected the building at the corner 
of Bedford and Second streets; this was removed in 1910 to 
make way for the new structure of its successor, the Massasoit- 
Pocasset National Bank. 

The Metacomet Bank dates from 1853 and carried on its 
business at the corner of Anawan and Water streets, on the 
second floor, in what is now the office of the American Print- 
ing Company, until 1876, when it removed to an office on the 
corner of South Main and Pleasant streets, in the Borden 
Block. It erected its present building in 1888, and remodelled 
it in 1910. It became a national bank in 1865, and in 1903 
purchased the Second National, formerly the Wamsutta. The 
latter was chartered in 1856 and became a national institution 
in 1864, changing its name to the Second National. It occu- 
pied an office with the Fall River Five Cents Savings. 

The Pocasset Bank was incorporated in Rhode Island in 
1854, and carried on business at South Main and Rodman 
streets, till after the change in the boundary line, when it 
removed to the northwest corner of city hall. In 1872 it 
erected the building now occupied by the Citizens Savings 
Bank. It had become a national institution in 1865, and was 
merged in the new Massasoit-Pocasset when that was formed 
in 1903 by the combination of the Pocasset, the Massasoit 
National and the National Union. 

The First National Bank, the first to be formed here 
under the federal banking law, was organized Jan. 23, 1864, 
and was located at the southwest corner of Main and Central 
streets, in Granite Block, till it occupied its present building 
in 1888. 

The B. M. C. Durfee Safe Deposit & Trust Co. was 
chartered in 1887, when it took over the private banking busi- 
ness of B. M. C. Durfee & Co., a partnership composed of 
Mr. Durfee and John S. Bray ton. 

The Citizens Savings Bank was formerly The Savings 
Bank of Tiverton and was organized in 1851 and occupied 
rooms with the Fall River Union Bank. After the change in 
the state line it was authorized to do business in Massachusetts 

76 



and assumed its present title. It occupied rooms with the 
Pocasset Bank in the northwest corner of city hall until 1873, 
when it removed to its present quarters. 

The Fall River Five Cents Savings was incorporated in 
1855 and the Union Savings in 1869. The latter's office was 
in the southwest corner of city hall until 1872, when it removed 
to the location on Main street where it erected its present 
building in 1897. 

Of the co-operative banks, the Troy is the oldest. It 
dates from 1880 and until 1883 was known as the Troy 
Co-operative Savings Fund and Loan Association. The 
People's Co-operative was organized in 1882, as the People's 
Savings Fund & Loan Association, but took its present name 
shortly after; the Fall River Co-operative Bank in 1888 and 
the Lafayette Co-operative Bank in 1894. 



SCHOOLS 

The small beginning from which the city's present 
extensive school system has grown, are perhaps, illustrated 
by nothing better than by the early appropriations for the 
support of the schools. In 1804, the year after the town was 
separated from Freetown, the amount raised to pay the 
expenses of the town schools was but $250, and this was to 
be divided among the several districts in proportion to the 
number of their inhabitants. More than 20 years later, in 
1825, the appropriation was only $600, which was divided 
among ten districts, having 391 families. 

The early buildings were few and small, and a map of 
1812 shows but three schoolhouses, one near the present corner 
of South Main and Hamlet streets, one near the corner of 
North Main and Prospect streets, and one at Steep Brook. 
Private schools were common, and in 1826 were more numer- 
ous than those maintained at public expense. In the year 
named, there were 14 private institutions and 12 public schools. 

The earliest school report in the possession of the public 
library is that for 1842-43, and this, with the reports for the 

77 



next few years, gives a fairly good picture of the schools of 
those days. The town was divided into 14 districts, each with 
a prudential committee of one, and there was a general school 
committee of three, elected by the town. The system was very 
unsatisfactory, and the general committee was outspoken in 
its condemnation. One district had no school building, 
and school was kept in ' 'an unfinished room in an unfinished 
house," separated from the living apartments of the family 
only by a small partition. In other instances, the buildings 
were altogether too small, in poor condition and often unfit 
for school purposes. Discipline in many schools was poor, 
owing to the youth and inexperience of the teachers and the 
presence of unruly boys. 

There was also "a lamentable deficiency of books", and 
in one district "at a late visitation of the committee, he found 
but a single volume in the whole school authorized to be used 
in our schools." Until about 1846, when the town appropri- 
ated $850 for their purchase, maps, globes and other apparatus 
were rare. In 1843 but one schoolhouse in the town had a 
bell, and as the districts did not seem inclined to purchase 
bells, the committee suggested an arrangement with the 
Pocasset Mfg. Co. for ringing its mill bell in the hope of 
reducing the cases of tardiness. After the fire of that year, 
when the Anawan street building was burned, school was 
held in the lecture room of the Unitarian church. 

The reports criticise the conditions in each school and the 
success or failure of the teachers, by name, with startling 
frankness. That of 1843-44 declares that the custom of 
building cheap schools and employing cheap schoolmasters is 
not yet obsolete, and says that "there is not a single school 
room in this town where provision is made, as it should be, 
for the escape of bad air and the introduction of that which 
is pure and fresh." 

Schools were frequently closed from lack of funds, and 
the report just quoted says, relative to this, that "when one- 
half of the grammar schools in a town like Fall River are 
suspended a part of the year for the want of funds, so that 
one man can send his children to school the entire year and 
his nearest neighbor, who pays the same tax, can send his 

78 



children only two-thirds of the year, there must be something 
radically wrong in the arrangement of the districts." 

In some of the schools only winter terms were kept, and 
in many, men taught in winter, when the big boys attended, 
and women in summer. In the earlier reports, the standard 
pay for the women teachers was $16.25 a month, or $195 a 
year. A few years later some received $200 a year, paid 
quarterly, and some $220. The teachers were selected and 
contracted for by the prudential committee of each district, 
and then presented to the general committee for examination. 

In 1841-42 the town raised by taxation but $2.35 for each 
child between 4 and 16 years of age, and the committee 
constantly urged, in its early reports, the need of more funds. 
The total school appropriation in 1842-3, when the census 
showed 1943 children between 4 and 16, was but $5,455.66, of 
which $255.66 came from the state. In 1847-48 $7,000 was 
appropriated by the town, and $455.87 received from the 
state. 

School was kept on Saturday mornings, and for 46 weeks 
instead of 40 as at present. The regulations of 1844 provided 
that school should be held from 9 A. M. until 12 throughout 
the year, and in the afternoon from 2 to 5 in the summer and 
from 1:30 to 4:30 in the winter. Three vacations were 
allowed each year, two weeks from the last Wednesday 
in April, three weeks from the third Wednesday in July 
and one week from the third Wednesday in November. 
Fast Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Fourth of July and 
every Saturday afternoon were holidays, "and none other 
shall be allowed except by special vote of the committee. " 
By 1850 the entire day on Saturday was allowed as a holiday, 
as well as the day after Thanksgiving, but there were still 
46 weeks of school each year. 

After 1845 the schools began to show material improve- 
ment, in consequence of the influence of the state normal 
school, and in their progress kept pace with the other schools 
of the commonwealth. 

About this time, also, a beginning was made in the con- 
struction of larger and better buildings. The present 
Anawan schoolhouse was built after its predecessor of that 

79 



name, (a remodelled Congregational church,) had been burned 
in the fire of 1843. It was regarded as a model, with "the 
most perfect school room in Bristol County", to quote from a 
statement of the committee in 1848. The High street build- 
ing followed in 1846, the June street in 1849, the Columbia 
street and the High School in 1852 and the Maple street in 
1855. The Morgan street dates from 1868, and since that 
time buildings have rapidly followed each other, as noted 
elsewhere, as the city has grown. Three will be completed 
this year 1911, the John J. McDonough, the William J. Wiley 
and the Hugo A. Dubuque. Sixteen other brick school build- 
ings have been erected and occupied in the last 20 years. 

Fall River was one of the earliest communities to estab- 
lish a high school. This was in 1849, the same year as New 
York. In April of that year the town meeting authorized a 
high school, and appropriated $1,500 for its maintenance. 
The first session was held on May 10, in the private school 
which stood on the south side of Franklin Street, east of Oak, 
occupied by George B. Stone, who became the first principal. 
The building on the corner of Locust and June streets, later 
called the Foster Hooper school, was erected for high school 
use in 1852, and the school then removed to this structure, 
though only the upper room was seated until 1868, when the 
teaching of French was begun and a three years' English 
course inaugurated. When the school grew too large for this 
building, the first year classes were held in the Davenport 
school house. 

Conditions were relieved greatly by the opening in 1887, 
of the B. M. C. Durfee High School, the finest gift ever 
made to the city, but in recent years even this has been 
crowded by its 900 students, and a new technical high school 
of four floors on the site of the Foster Hooper and June 
Street buildings was begun in May, 1911. 

The first evening school was opened in 1848. A "factory 
school," probably the first of its kind in the State, was 
organized in 1868, at the Anawan building, for children under 
15 years of age working in the mills, who were required by 
law to attend school 12 weeks in the year. The ' ' factory 
school" continued forty-eight weeks, thus accommodating 
four sets of children for the required 12 weeks a year. 

80 



A school for truants and children of the inmates of the 
almshouse was held at that institution for many years, from 
about 1865 to 1890. 

The district system, with at first 10 and later 14 districts, 
was retained until 1864. The first school superintendent was 
elected the following year, and began his duties in the fall 
of 1865. 

A training school was established in February, 1881, in 
the Robeson School building, on Columbia street, and was re- 
moved to the Osborn Street school when that was completed in 
1891. Special instructors in music and drawing were appointed 
in 1887; sewing, which had twice been tried for a short time, 
was permanently introduced in 1896, and the teaching of 
cooking authorized in 1911. Manual training was introduced 
with the opening of the new High School in 1887. 

The providing of free text books, thus making public 
education absolutely without direct cost to parents, began in 
April 1874, this city being the first in the state to introduce 
this system. Its effects in relieving heads of families from a 
considerable expense, in the prompt supply of books when 
needed and in increased attendance were so satisfactory that 
the original outlay, though considerable, was well repaid. 
The general state law requiring free text books and supplies 
did not go into effect till August, 1884. 

Parochial schools have been in existence here for many 
years, and many of them are well appointed, substantial and 
up-to-date structures, St. Mary's Cathedral, St. Anne's, 
Notre Dame, St. Patrick's, St. Louis, St. Joseph's, the 
Sacred Heart, The Blessed Sacrament, St. Matthew's, St. 
John the Baptist, St. Stanislaus, St. Roch's, and Espirito 
Santo, each support a parish school. 

CHURCHES AND CHARITIES 

Fall River has churches of many denominations, conveni- 
ently situated in all parts of the city, and the stranger, 
whatever his creed, is sure to find here companies of those in 
sympathy with him. Many of the edifices are noted for 

their architecture. 

81 



The citizens have been liberal in their gifts to charities, 
and handsome and commodious buildings have been erected for 
the care of the orphan, the aged and the sick, while the Boys' 
Club, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Women's 
Union, the Children's Home and the Bishop Stang Day 
Nursery testify to work along other lines. 

The first church to be formed in what is now Fall River 
was the First Baptist, which was organized with 30 members 
on Feb. 15, 1781, and ordained its first pastor May 22, 1783. 
It was known as "The Baptist Church in Freetown, Dart- 
mouth and Tiverton." The records are fragmentary, but it 
appears that a meeting-house was erected near the Narrows 
about 1800, and that at this time the name was changed to 
"The Second Baptist Church in Tiverton." In 1828-29 a 
revival took place, the name was again changed to "The 
First Baptist Church in Troy", which was later modified to 
agree with the change in the name of the town, and a new 
church built on South Main street and afterward sold to the 
Episcopal Society. The present Baptist Temple was erected 
and the first service held there July 1, 1840. In 1847 the 
church divided and the Temple was sold to the Second Baptist 
Society, which still occupies it. The First Baptist Church 
worshipped in Union Hall till its present edifice on North 
Main street was completed in 1850 and dedicated on October 
23, of that year. 

It has three large chapels— the Broadway, the Brownell 
Street and the Harrison Street. The Broadway, which, like 
the others, started as a Sunday school, began in 1857, and 
occupied a chapel at the northwest corner of Columbia and 
Canal streets, later sold for a Portuguese Catholic church. 
Afterwards, services were held on the second floor of the 
Ferry Street station till the present building at the southeast 
corner of Broadway and William street was completed. The 
Brownell street chapel was organized in 1871 as the Mechan- 
icsville Baptist church, which name was later changed to its 
present title. The Harrison Street Chapel was started in 
1885. 

The First Congregational Church was organized January 
9, 1816, but had no regular meeting place for some time. In 

82 



1821-22 a church was erected on a portion of the present 
Anawan school lot. It was 45 feet long and 36 feet wide, 
and had a vestry underneath. It was extended 25 feet in 
1827 and was afterward sold to the Unitarian Society, and 
still later bought by the school district and converted into a 
schoolhouse. It was burned in the fire of 1843. The present 
North Main Street Church was built in 1832 and dedicated on 
November 21. A clock was placed in the steeple the follow- 
ing year. Work on a new church and parish house on Rock, 
Cherry and June streets was begun in the spring of 1911. 

The Friends erected a meeting-house on the North Main 
street lot where their present church stands in 1821. This 
was soon found to be too small and was sold to the town and 
removed to Rock street, opposite the present high school, 
where it was used for a school-house. The present church 
was built in 1836. The denomination has a mission on 
Stafford road. 

The First Christian Church was organized in 1829, and 
erected an edifice on Franklin street the following year. 
This was burned in the 1843 fire, and the present church then 
took its place. 

The Unitarian Society was formed in 1832, and met for a 
time in the Old Line Meeting House on South Main street. 
It then bought the Congregational church on Anawan street, 
and in 1835 dedicated its present church, which then stood 
on the southeast corner of Borden and Second streets, and 
was removed to the location it now occupies on North Main 
street in 1860-61. 

The oldest of the Primitive Methodist churches is the 
First P. M. Church, incorporated in 1874, though the first 
meetings of the denomination had been held three years 
previously. The church was completed in 1875 and the 
school room on Dover street in 1888. The Second Church 
was formed in 1891, and dedicated its edifice in 1893. The 
Sykes Church was organized in 1892. 

The first Catholic service was held here, in a private 
house, in 1829, and late in 1834 the first attempt was made to 
form an organization. Land on Spring street, where St. 
Mary's Cathedral now stands, was purchased, and a small 



83 



wooden chapel erected in 1836, called St. John the Baptist. 
The chapel was extended on the south after 1840, with the 
result that the altar and six pews were in Rhode Island while 
the rest of the church was in Massachusetts. Soon after 1850 
a new church became a necessity, and the work of laying the 
foundation for St. Mary's was begun. The cornerstone was 
laid August 8, 1852, and the walls, with the exception of the 
front, carried up to their present height, while the chapel 
within was still in use. The little building was then cut in 
two and removed to the site of the present rectory, where 
services were held till it was burned in 1856. From that time 
the congregation worshipped in the present church, which on 
the organization of the diocese of Fall River was made the 
cathedral. 

The First Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in 
1827 and erected a small edifice on the westerly side of what 
is now Camden street near Central street. It was later used 
as a dwelling and was taken down in 1910. A new church 
on the site of the present building on South Main street was 
constructed in 1840, burned in 1843 and at once rebuilt and 
dedicated in 1844. 

The Church of the Ascension was organized July 15,1836, 
and met in the Pocasset house, which stood at the corner of 
South Main and Pleasant streets till 1840, when it bought the 
former First Baptist Church on South Main street. This was 
burned in 1850. It was at once replaced and was occupied 
till the church on Rock street, between Pine and Cherry 
streets was built and occupied in 1875 when the old church 
was devoted to business purposes. A large parish house on 
Purchase street was completed in May, 1911. The church 
has charge of St. Matthew's Mission on Locust street. 

The Central Congregational Church was formed Nov. 16, 
1842, by 70 members of the First Congregational and met in 
dwellings and in the Pocasset house till 1844, when it dedi- 
cated a wooden edifice on the northwest corner of Bedford 
and Rock streets. The present church was begun in 1874 and 
dedicated Dec. 13, 1875. The chapel was erected in 1891. 
For many years the church maintained a "city missionary," 
Rev. E. A. Buck, who did good work among the needy and 

84 



established a ' 'mission school" at the corner of Pleasant and 
Sixth streets. On the retirement of Mr. Buck this was 
merged in the mother church. 

The United Presbyterian church, dating from 1846, 
erected a small wooden church on the east side of Union 
street, south of Columbia and purchased its present edifice on 
Pearl and Anawan streets in 1851. This had been erected by 
members of the Christian denomination. It has a mission on 
Rodman street. 

The Baptist churches have been increased by the addition 
of the Third in 1873 and the Trinity in 1905, the first the out- 
growth of a Sunday school and the second of a mission. 
Colored churches of this denomination have also been estab- 
lished. 

To the list of Congregational churches have been added 
the Fowler, a branch of the First, dating from 1874, the Pil- 
grim, formerly the Broadway, organized in 1894, and the 
French Congregational, which was formed in 1888 from a 
mission of the First. 

From the small beginnings of the Catholic church have 
grown a score of prosperous parishes. Of these, that of the 
Sacred Heart was formed first, in 1873, and the church com- 
pleted ten years later. St. Patrick's and St. Joseph's were 
organized shortly after, in 1874. St. Patrick's church was 
begun in 1881 and completed in 1889, while the cornerstone of 
St. Joseph's was laid in 1880 and the building dedicated in 
1885. St. Louis parish was organized in 1885 and the church 
dedicated in 1890. SS. Peter's and Paul's was formed in 1882 
and its church dedicated in 1900. The Immaculate Conception 
parish was also organized in 1882, and its church soon after 
begun and completed. St. William's was organized in 1905. 

The oldest of the French Catholic churches is Ste. Anne's, 
formed in 1869. The communicants worshipped in a church 
at the corner of Hunter and Hope streets till the present 
magnificent building on South Main street was ready for use. 
It was dedicated July 4, 1906. 

The parish of Notre Dame de Lourdes had been estab- 
lished in July, 1874, by a division of the parish of Ste. Anne. 
Its services were held in a church on Bassett street till this 

85 



was burned in November, 1903, when the present church, 
completed in 1906, was begun. 

Other Catholic churches here are the Blessed Sacrament, 
formerly St. Dominic's, whose edifice was recently completed; 
St. Mathieu's, organized in 1886 and dedicating its church in 
1896; St. Jean Baptiste, St. Roch's,Santo Christo,San Miguel's, 
Espirito Santo, Madonna de Rosario, St. Stanislaus and St. 
Anthony's. 

St. Paul's M. E. church was organized in 1851 by 123 mem- 
bers of the First Church and erected a building on Bank street 
in 1852, which was enlarged in 1864. The Bray ton M. E., until 
about 1870 known as the Globe Street M. E., was organized in 
1854, the Quarry Street in 1870 and the North M. E. in 1859. The 
Summerfield M. E. Church was organized in 1875. It erected 
a building on Terry street and took the name of the Terry 
Street M. E. Church. In 1878 the edifice was removed to its 
present location on North Main and Hood streets. Five years 
later the church was raised and the name changed to the 
Park M. E. Church. The present title was assumed in 1890. 
There is also a colored church, the African Methodist Episco- 
pal and an Italian Mission on Plain street, organized in 1905. 

Nearly all the Episcopal churches were started by the 
Church of the Ascension. St. John's became independent in 
1881, and erected a wooden church on South Main street, 
followed by the present stone church, in which services were 
first held on Easter Day, 1890. St. James was organized in 
1883, and occupied its present church in March, 1885, St. 
Mark's erected a church on Mason street in 1888 and became 
independent in 1894. St. Luke's became a separate parish in 
1896, and the present church was built soon after. St. 
Stephen's, formed from a mission of St. John's, was organized 
in 1896, and has just completed its church. 

In addition to the First Christian Church, the city has 
two others of this denomination— the North, dating from 
1842 and the Bogle Street, formed in 1876. The latter's 
edifice was built in 1885. There is also a chapel on New 
Boston Road, called New Boston Chapel. 

Other churches here are the Globe or First Presbyterian, 
organized in 1890; the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of 

86 



Latter Day Saints, organized in 1863, whose church was built 
in 1876, burned in 1893, and rebuilt; the Church of the New 
Jerusalem, organized in 1854, whose edifice dates from 1869; 
the Advent Christian, organized in 1887, which erected a 
chapel the following year; the Church of Christ, Scientist, 
dating from 1892; the First Spiritualist Church and Lyceum; 
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, a Russian Orthodox Church, and 
the First Polish Church of the Blessed Virgin, the last-named 
a Polish National Catholic church. There are also four 
Jewish congregations— the Sons of Jacob, the Union Street 
Synagogue, the Congregation Adas Israel, and Aharat Achim. 

The present Young Men's Christian Association dates 
from 1888 (though there had been an association here as 
early as 1857) and was housed from 1888 to 1895 in the Slade 
house, at the corner of North Main and Elm streets. It then 
removed to a house on the northeast corner of North Main and 
Pine streets on which site stands the large brick building which 
was dedicated April, 1903. 

There are two temperance societies in Fall River, the 
Young Men's Irish American Catholic Total Abstinence and 
Benevolent Society and the Young Men's Protestant Temper- 
ance and Benevolent Society, both of which occupy substan- 
tial brick buildings of their own. 

The work of the Women's Union began in 1873 in the 
Troy building. The present structure w T as completed in 1909. 

The Boys' Club was organized in 1890 and had its first 
quarters on Troy street. The Anawan street building was 
erected and donated to the club by M. C. D. Borden in 1898, 
and the Pocasset street annex in 1908. 

The Children's Home, organized in 1873, first occupied a 
building at the northwest corner of North Main street and 
President avenue, erected a frame building, followed by the 
present brick structure, at the corner of Walnut and Robeson 
streets, dedicated in 1895. 

St. Vincent's Orphanage, founded in 1885, occupied a 
wooden building till its present brick home was completed in 
1894. 

St. Joseph's Orphanage, another large institution, .is 
cared for by Notre Dame parish. 

87 



The Home for Aged People, organized in 1891, occupied 
the Leland House on High street in its early years. It 
dedicated its Highland avenue building in March, 1898. 

Ste. Anne's Hospital, erected by the Dominican Sisters of 
Charity, of Tours, France, was dedicated February 4, 1906. 

The Union Hospital, whose new building was opened in 
October, 1908, was formed by the merger in 1900 of the Fall 
River Hospital, founded in 1885 and situated on Prospect 
street, and the Emergency, established in 1895 in a building 
where the structure of the Women's Union now stands. 

Two day nurseries, both established in 1910, care for 
infants while their mothers are at work. They are the Bishop 
Stang Day Nursery, in a building erected for its use on Third 
street, and the Ninth Street Day Nursery, started by The 
College Club, an organization of ladies. There is also an 
institution called the Seaside Home, situated on the shore of 
the bay, which cares for babies during the summer. 

The Salvation Army work began in 1883. The head- 
quarters were in Court Square for 11 years, and then in 
several locations till the Bedford street citadel was erected 
in 1903. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

The early fire department was entirely a volunteer one. 
The first engine, bought by the town in 1818, was a ' "bucket" 
engine, which drew water from a tub of the machine, filled by 
a line of men who passed buckets from one to another. A 
carriage, with a large number of buckets, attended it, but 
many of the citizens had their own fire buckets, generally of 
leather on which the name of the owner was painted and 
which they took with them when responding to an alarm. This 
engine was first stationed on the south side of Central street, 
near Inch, subsequently in the rear of city hall, and later still 
in the old town house on Central street. It was altered to a 
draught engine after the fire of 1843 and remained in service 
until 1853, when it was succeeded by Mazeppa No. 7. 

. Another engine was purchased by private subscription in 
1826. This also drew water from a tub, which was forced, 

88 



without hose, through a goose-neck nozzle. It was stationed 
near Bedford and Main streets and is said to have been drawn 
to fires by oxen. 

The second engine bought by the town was Hydraulion 
No. 2, first kept in Stone lane, off Central street, and later in the 
Niagara house on Pleasant street. It was a draught engine, 
having two decks and two sets of brakes, one worked by men 
standing on the ground and the other by men on a platform. 
It was never very popular with the citizens. Cataract No. 3, 
purchased in 1843, was housed at the corner of Franklin and 
Rock streets, while Niagara No. 4, of the same period, was 
stationed in the Niagara house on Pleasant street until 1853, 
and was later sent to North Main and Turner streets, with the 
new name of Torrent No. 2, and a new Niagara was purchased 
which remained in active service until 1865, and was used by 
a volunteer force at the Print Works fire in 1867. Ocean No. 
5, bought in 1846, was kept on Pearl street, Mazeppa No. 7, 
formerly the property of the Massasoit Mfg. Co. , was kept 
successively in the town house, the armory, Court square and 
at the corner of South Main street and Broadway. Other 
early engines were the Atlantic No. 6, owned by Hawes, 
Marvel & Davol, and kept at their machine shop, the Metro- 
polis No. 7 and the Franklin. The last hand fire engine was 
the Cascade, which had belonged to the town of Fall River, 
R. L, and was kept on the west side of South Main street 
south of Columbia street and afterward at the Globe Print 
Works, and maintained by that company. In the early fifties 
an engine house having been built on present site of the 
Cascade house, the engine was placed there. 

In addition to the regular fire companies there were 
several organizations known as Forcing Pump Companies, 
formed by the various manufacturing establishments. They 
were equipped with hand hose reels and attended all fires 
which their hose, when attached to the pumps at their 
factories, would reach. While they were not considered a 
part of the regular department, their election as firemen 
was subject to the approval of the fire wards, and they 
received a slight compensation from the town. They were 
also subject to fines for non-attendance. In 1832 there were 

89 



four of these companies, one at the Fall River Manufactory, 
one at Robeson's Print Works, one at the Pocasset mill and 
one at the Troy mill ; one was later maintained by the Anna- 
wan Mfg. Co. 

Nearly all the regular companies disbanded as fire com- 
panies in 1857, following the action of the city government 
in limiting the aggregate to be paid each company for com- 
pensation. They continued as social organizations. The 
Ocean and the Cataract Companies had bands of considerable 
note. The most prominent citizens of the town belonged to 
the fire companies during their days of active service. 

The early companies sometimes made excursions to the 
neighboring cities, Newport, New Bedford and Providence. 
More notable than any of these, however, was the visit to 
New York on the steamer Bay State, made by the Cataract 
Company of 1847. 

In the early days an alarm of fire was given by shouting 
and the ringing of bells, and methods were not much 
improved in 1854, when an ordinance adopted in that year, 
provided that immediately on an alarm of fire during the 
night, it should be the duty of the watchmen to give notice 
thereof by springing rattles, crying fire or ringing a bell, and 
mentioning the street or direction where the fire was. No 
bell was to be rung for a chimney fire, either by day or night. 

For many years the bell on the Court House, on Court 
square was rung as a fire alarm. It was also rung at 7 a. m., 
12 m., 1, 6 and 9 p.m., for the benefit of the people, the 9 
p. M., bell served as a curfew, and this continued until 1874. 

After 1832 until about 1868, officers of the department 
carried speaking trumpets as the insignia of office. 

The Fall River Iron Works Co. early laid a pipe from the 
Watuppa dam to the Iron Works property at the foot of the 
hill, with several hydrants for fire purposes. 

The first hose reel was secured in 1843 and stationed on 
Rock street. A four-wheeled hose reel was bought in 1851, 
and stationed at the Cataract House, and the first horse hose 
reel in 1863, kept in the Court Square building. 

Like the other apparatus, the early hook and ladder 
trucks were small. The first was bought in 1826, kept on 

90 



Pleasant street, and drawn by hand. One purchased as late 
as 1871, was first drawn by hand and then changed to be used 
with a horse. The present No. 1, purchased in 1885, was the 
first in the state to be equipped for three horses abreast. 

The first steamer, Quequechan No. 1, was bought in 1859, 
and replaced in 1871 and again in 1891. It was kept in the 
Court square building till the completion of the Prospect 
street house in 1874. The King Phliip, No. 2, was purchased 
in 1860, and also stationed at same place till it was removed 
to the Central engine house in 1871. Other early steam fire 
engines were the Metacomet, No. 3 ; the Niagara, No. 4 ; 
the Massasoit, No. 5 ; the Anawan, No. 6; and the Pocasset, 
No. 7, all bought before 1875. 

Of the early engine houses, the Niagara, formerly known 
as Firemen's hall, was the stone building still standing on the 
south side of Pleasant street, between Second and Third, built 
in 1838 and sold in 1877. The Cataract, now occupied by the 
Fall River Veteran Firemen's Association, is at the corner of 
Rock and Franklin streets and was built in 1843. The Ocean 
house still standing on Pearl street, now occupied by the Defi- 
ance Veteran Firemen's Association, was built in 1845. The 
Court Square House, now occupied by the police, was formerly 
a livery stable and was purchased in 1857. The Central engine 
house was built in 1870 and enlarged in 1896, and the houses 
of the Anawan on North Main street, the Pocasset on Pleasant 
and the Massasoit on Freedom were erected in 1874, the 
Quequechan on Prospect street in 1875, and the present 
Niagara, on Plymouth avenue, in 1878. The Cascade house 
on South Main street replaced, in 1898, a structure put up by 
the town of Tiverton in the 50s. 

The more recent fire department buildings and apparatus 
are : the Bogle Hill station on Pleasant street, erected in 
1899, and occupied by Engine No. 9 ; a building corner South 
Main and Howe streets, erected in 1899, and occupied by 
combined hose and chemical apparatus No. 10 ; the High- 
land station, erected in 1909, used by a combination ladder 
and chemical truck. 

The first Cascade auto equipment was installed Septem- 
ber, 1909, and an auto combination hose was added in the 
same building in April, 1911. 

91 



The building at Maplewood was erected in 1910 and Hose 
No. 11 installed in it February, 1911. 

Before 1829 the firemen were in charge of ten wardens 
elected annually. In that year the number was increased to 
20, and in 1832 a fire department was formally established. 
After that time, members of companies received a small yearly 
compensation. The first permanent man was appointed in 
in 1860, as driver of Steamer No. 1, in Court Square. It was 
his duty, on an alarm, to take two horses belonging to the 
street department, and drive to the fire. Two additional 
drivers were appointed in 1865, and took turns at highway 
work with their teams. In 1873, the three men and their 
horses were placed permanently on duty at the engine houses. 
The next year, permanent engineers were appointed, and in 
1886 a captain and hoseman for each engine. In 1894 the 
captains of all fire companies were made permanent, and since 
then the department has rapidly been brought to its present 
efficiency. It now has 126 permanent and 29 call men. 

The fire alarm telegraph system was installed in 1870, 
and the first alarm given from box 16 on Jan. 27. The first 
chemical engine was bought in 1872 and the first extension 
truck of the aerial type in 1875, and first piece of automobile 
fire apparatus was bought in 1909. 

The department came under the control of the fire com- 
mission when the city charter went into effect in 1903. 

The dates of some of the more notable fires are: "The 
Great Fire", July 2, 1843; the Empire State, Jan. 13, 1849; 
the Micah Ruggles house, Jan. 24, 1857; Globe Print Works, 
Dec. 5, 1867; American Print Works, Dec. 15, 1867; Massasoit 
Steam Mill, Nov. 2, 1875; Granite Mills, Sept. 19, 1874; 
American Linen, June 29, 1876; Border City No. 1, Nov. 17, 
1877; Chace's thread mill, Nov. 29, 1878; Flint Mill, Oct. 28, 
1882 ; Sagamore, April 24, 1884 ; Langley's loom harness 
factory, (following a boiler explosion which killed four per- 
sons) June 14, 1895. 



92 



POLICE DEPARTMENT 

The police department was established in 1844, when a 
night watch of six men was authorized. On the adoption of 
a city charter, a chief constable was appointed at $1.50 a day, 
with seven day assistants and eight night men. The title was 
changed to city marshal in 1857. By 1872 the force had been 
increased to 28 men, 22 of whom were on night duty. More 
men were added in 1873 and 1874, increasing the number to 
70. On the opening of the northern, southern, and eastern 
stations, in 1874, the city was divided into four districts, and 
the hours of duty so arranged as not to leave the city un- 
guarded for three hours during the day, as had formerly 
been the practice. The patrol wagon system went into effect 
in 1890, and late in 1910, the horse-drawn wagon was replaced 
by an automobile. The department was placed under a com- 
mission in 1894, and now numbers 154 men. 

The early headquarters were in the Central street town 
house, later in the basement of city hall, and since 1857 in the 
present building on Court Square, now Purchase street, 
though this was shared with the fire and highway depart- 
ments till the former was withdrawn in 1875 and the latter 
in 1879. The structure was then remodelled with rooms on 
the second floor for the district court, which continued to be 
used till January, 1911. The police department was then 
given the use of the entire building. 



93 



Bowenville extended from Cedar street to President 
avenue, west of North Main street. The Railroad Station 
formerly standing at the foot of Old Colony Avenue was 
called Bowenville. 

Farmville extended from President avenue to George 
street, west of North Main street, north of this was "Slade's 
Ferry". After the construction of the Mechanics Mills 
in 1868, the name Farmville by common consent became 
Mechanicsville. 

Steep Brook included the section from present Baldwin 
street northerly to Miller's Cove, from the shore as far east as 
the present Highland avenue. 

Globe Village (in Tiverton) was the section having its 
center near the junction of present South Main street and 
Globe street. 

Mt. Hope Village was the section near the Mt. Hope 
(now Conanicut) Mill. 

Harrisonville adjoined Pleasant street near the loca- 
tion of Fourteenth street. 

New Boston included the section on both sides of what 
are now New Boston road, Willow, Ruth, and Meridian streets 
as well as that portion of Wilson road east of Highland avenue 
as far as the pond. 

Oak Grove Village comprises a section on both sides of 
Oak Grove Avenue from London street north to Oak Grove 
Cemetery, extending east to Freelove street. 

Bigberry, the point of land jutting into the Quequechan 
river near present Sixteenth street. 

"Mosquito Island" the location of the Wamsutta Steam 
Mills, now Massasoit Manufacturing Company, south of 
Pleasant street. 

Rattlesnake Hill, section near the present location of 
Watuppa Freight Station. 

Newville, section near Sucker Brook and Stafford road, 
now included in "Maplewood". 

"Happy Hollow" was the ravine extending from Bay 
street to Mt. Hope Bay near present Birch street. This was 
a favorite resort for Sunday school picnics. 

94 



Adirondac Grove was on the easterly shore of North 
Watuppa pond near the present Fall River- Westport line. 
Excursions by steamer from a landing near the present Troy 
building were popular until 1872 when the construction of 
bridges across Quequechan river made the passage impractic- 
able. 

''Scotch Hole" a section near the present junction of 
Quequechan, Jefferson and Warren streets. 

Flint Village included the section from County street 
(formerly Old Bedford road) southerly to Quequechan river 
and from Quequechan street easterly to Eastern avenue. 

Town pump stood at southeast corner of city hall and 
was used until introduction of city water. 

Indian Town, is the section east of North Watuppa pond 
extending from the Westport line northerly about one mile, 
deriving its name from an Indian settlement, which was on 
the Indian reservation at this location. 

The Narrows—" This strait divides the pond into North 
Watuppa and South Watuppa." At one time "this strait was 
passed on a foot-bridge of stepping stones."— Fowler's 
History. It is now crossed by the roadway to Westport and 
New Bedford. 



95 



FALL RIVER 

Founded, 1803. 

Incorporated a city, 1854. 

Area, including land and water, about 41 square miles. 

Length of city, about 11 miles, width 1\ miles. 

Assessed polls, April, 1910, 31,815. 

Registered voters, 1910, males, 16,414, females, 2,380. 

Dwellings, 10,005. 

Tax, 1910, inclusive of polls, $1,793,183.73. 

Rate of taxation, 1910, per $1,000, $18.70. 

Public School Buildings, 52. 

Pupils enrolled in Public Schools, 14,267. 

Public Library, number of volumes, 83,951. 

Post Office, receipts in 1825, $226; in 1910, $147,519. 

Miles of Accepted Streets, 1911, 144.84. 

Miles of Paved Streets, 1911, 16.47. 

Miles of Sewers, 1911, 72.93. 

Miles of Water Pipe, 1911, 112.585. 

Fire Hydrants, 1911, 1,327. 

Electric Arc Lights, 1911, 846. 

Gas Lights, 1911, 447. 

Kerosene Lights, 1911, 208. 



Date 


Population 


Valuation 


Spindles 


1810 


1,296 






1820 
1830 


1,594 
4,159 






1840 


6,738 


$ 2,978,597 


32,084 


1850 


11,170 


7,433,050 




1860 


13,240 


11,522,650 




1862 






192,620 


1870 


27,191 


23,612,214 


544,606 


1880 


47,883 


39,171,264 


1,390,830 


1890 


74,918 


53,395,908 


2,164,664 


1900 


104,863 


73,511,614 


3,042,472 


1910 


119,295 


92,488,520 


3,943,036 



96 



COTTON MANUFACTURING 





Incorporated 


Capital 


Spindles 


American Linen Co. 


1852 


$800,000 


94,528 


Ancona Company 


1903 


300,000 


40,080 


Arkwright Mills 


1897 


450,000 


68,432 


Barnaby Mfg. Co. 


1882 


350,000 


25,424 


Barnard Mfg. Co. 


1874 


500,000 


80,304 


Border City Mfg. Co. 


1880 


1,000,000 


121,228 


Bourne Mills 


1881 


1,000,000 


91,258 


Chace Mills 


1871 


1,200,000 


116,688 


Charlton Mills 


1910 


800,000 


52,000 


Conanicut Mills 


1880 


300,000 


29,412 


Cornell Mills 


1889 


400,000 


45,040 


Davis Mills 


1903 


1,250,000 


127,504 


Davol Mills 


1867 


500,000 


44,672 


Durfee Mills 


1866 


500,000 


143,952 


Estes Mills 


1905 


300,000 


7,000 


Fall River Iron Works Co. 


1825 


2,000,000 


488,000 


Flint Mills 


1872 


1,160,000 


107,000 


Globe Yarn Mills 


A 




73,408 


Granite Mills 


1863 


1,000,000 


122,048 


Hargraves Mills 


1888 


800,000 


111,690 


Kerr Thread Co. 


B 




105,732 


King Philip Mills 


1871 


1,500,000 


135,232 


Laurel Lake Mills 


1881 


600,000 


59,808 


Lincoln Mfg. Co. 


1906 


700,000 


62,800 


Luther Mfg. Co. 


1903 


350,000 


51,616 


Massasoit Mfg. Co. 


1882 


500,000 




Mechanics Mills 


1868 


750,000 


60,512 


Merchants Mfg. Co. 


1867 


1,200,000 


134,336 


Narragansett Mills 


1871 


400,000 


43,744 


Osborn Mills 


1871 


750,000 


70,332 


Parker Mills 


1895 


800,000 


111,684 


Pilgrim Mills 


1910 


1,050,000 


50,000 


Pocasset Mfg. Co. 


1822 


1,200,000 


120,016 


Richard Borden Mfg. Co. 


1871 


1,000,000 


101,024 


Sagamore Mfg. Co. 


1879 


1,200,000 


141,728 


Sanford Spinning Co. 


A 




57,496 



97 



Seaconnet Mills 
Shove Mills 
Stafford Mills 
Stevens Mfg. Co. 
Tecumseh Mills 
Troy Cotton and Woolen 

Manufactory 
Union Cotton Mfg. Co. 
Wampanoag Mills 
Weetamoe Mills 



1884 


600,000 


68,384 


1872 


550,000 


77,728 


1871 


1,000,000 


114,584 


1892 


700,000 


16,764 C 


1866 


750,000 


78,960 


1814 


300,000 


50,304 


1879 


1,200,000 


110,320 


1871 


750,000 


84,760 


1871 


500,000 


45,504 




$32,960,000 


3,943,036 



A Owned by the'New England Cotton Yarn Co. 

B Owned by the American Thread Co. 

C Equivalent to 63,000 print cloth spindles. 





Incorporated 


Capital 


Algonquin Printing Co. 


1891 


$500,000 


American Printing Co. 


1880 


750,000 


Ashworth Brothers, Inc. 


1910 


400,000 


Fall River Electric Light Co. 


1883 


800,000 


Fall River Gas Works Co. 


1880 


690,000 


Heywood Narrow Fabric Co. 


1900 


40,000 


Kilburn, Lincoln & Co. 


1854 


80,000 


Old Colony Breweries Co. 


1896 


1,500,000 


Standard Fabric Co. 


1910 


150,000 


Union Belt Co. 


1871 


72,000 



98 



INDEX 



Abbott, John H 42 

Abolition of Grade Crossings 43, 44 

Academy of Music 34 

Advent Christian Church 87 

Albatross, steamer 66 

Aldermen, first Board of 26 

Algonquin Printing Co 40, 61 

American Linen Co 23, 60 

American Ptg. Co. . .19,61,62,64,71-76 

Anawan street 19 

Anawan School 22, 23, 78 

Annawan 6 

Annawan Mill 18, 59, 63 

Anthony, David 57 

Area of City 1 

Arkwright Mills 40 

Armory 42 

Articles of Confederation approved 14 

Athenaeum 21, 27 

Banks 5, 74 to 77 

Baptist Church at Narrows 17 

Baptist Temple 19, 82 

Barnaby Mfg. Co. 38 

Barnard Mfg. Co 32, 40 

Battery M 42 

Battle of Fall River 14, 15 

Bay State Print Works 55, 61, 62 

Bay State Steamboat Co 24, 34, 63 

Bay State, steamer 24, 35 

Belting introduced 59 

Blaisdell, J. C 26 

Blessed Sacrament Church 86 

Block Printing 19 

Block Shop 21 

Board of Health 37 

Bogle Street Church 86 

Borden Block 34 

Borden, Capt. Thomas 24 

Borden, Holder 59, 61 

Borden, M. C. D 61, 63, 87 

Borden, N. B 20 

Border City Mills 32, 38 

Boys' Club 87 



Bray ton M. E. Church so 

Broadway Chapel 82 

Brownell Street Chapel 82 

Boundary line 11, 29 

Bourne Mills 38 

Bradford Durfee, steamer 24 

Braley, H. K 39 

Bridge Mill 22, 58 

Brightman Street Bridge 51 

Bristol, steamer 35 

British Attack 14, 15 

Brown, S. M 31 

Brownell Street School 39 

Bucket Engine 19, 88 

Buffinton, I. & Son 59 

Buffinton, James 26 

Cabot, Sebastian 6 

Canonicus 6 

Canonicus, steamer 24, 66 

Caroline, schooner 67 

Catholic Churches 83 to 86 

Central Congregat'l Church. . .34, 84 

Chace Mills 32, 40 

Chace, Oliver 18, 54, 57 

Chace's Thread Mill 18 

Charlton Mills 40 

Cherry street 19 

Children's Home 87 

Cholera outbreak 26 

Church, Benj. and Caleb 12 

Church of che Ascension. ..19, 31. 84 

Churches and Charities 81, 88 

Church of the New Jerusalem. . . .87 

Citizens' Savings Bank 23, 48, 76 

City Charter 2."., 26, 27, 44, I" 

City Dispensary 41 

City Election, first 26 

City Engineer 39 

City Hall 33, 39 

City Stables 37, 39 

Civil War 28, 29 

Cleft Rock 11, 20 

Cloth produced 3 



99 



Clyde Line 36 

Columbia Street School 23, 80 

Company stores 61 

Conanicut Mill 18 

Congregationalists 13 

Corbitant 6 

Cote Piano Mfg. Co 67 

Cotton used 3 

Coughlin, John T 49, 50 

Coughlin, John W 40 

Coughlin School 42 

Covel Street School 39 

Crab pond 70, 71 

Creek, the 20 

Crescent Mills 32 

Cummings, John W 39 

Custom House 17, 36 

Dart, schooner 67 

Davenport, James F. . . 33 

Davenport School 32 

Davis Mills 40 

Davis, Robert T 32 

Davis School 32 

Davol Mills 28 

Davol School 41 

Davol, William C 56 

Day Nurseries 88 

Diocese of Fall River 48 

District Court House 51 

Division of Town 15 

Durfee, Col. Joseph 14,15,17,52 to 55,62 

Durfee Mills 28, 38 

Dyer Transportation Co 36, 67 

Earliest Settlers 10 

Eight Rod way 11 

Electric cars 41 

Electric drive ... 73, 74 

Electric lights 37, 39 

Empire State, steamer. 24, 25 35 

Engines, steam 72 to 74 

English machinery 55, 56 

Estes Mills 62,63 

Eudora, steamer 24 

Evening School 23 

Exchange Hotel 51 

Exchange street 20 

explorers 6 



Factory School 80 

Fairbanks, George 31 

Faith, steamer 34 

F.R.& P. Steamboat Co. ..36,63,65,66 

Fall River Bank 18, 38, 75 

Fall River, Battle of 14 

Fall River Bleachery 32, 62 

Fall River Co-operative Bank. 38, 77 

Fall River,. Diocese of 48 

Fall River Five Cents Savings Bank 

31,48,75, 76, 77 

Fall River Gas Works Co 63 

Fall River Iron \ 18, 23, 38, 40, 59, 61, 
Works Co. 1 63 to 66, 70, 71 

Fall River Line 24, 34, 35, 63, 66 

Fall River Machine Co 63, 68 

Fall River Railroad 25 

Fall River, R. I. , annexed 30 

Fall River Manufactory ... 

18,56, 57, 58, 63 

Fall River Savings Bank 18, 75 

Fall River Union Bank 18, 75 

Feehan, Bishop 48 

Fire alarm 90, 92 

Fire department 

18, 27, 28, 32, 50, 88-92 

Fire of 1843 21, 22 

Fires, dates of 92 

First Baptist Church 31, 82 

First Christian Church .... 19, 22, 83 
First Congregat'l Church.. 19, 82, 83 

First M. E. Church 84 

First National Bank 38, 76 

First Railroad 25 

First settlers 10 

First town house 17 

Fiske, "Jim" 35 

Flint Mills 32, 40 

Flint Village 32 

Flour Mills 28 

Forcing pump companies 89 

Foster Hooper School 23, 50, 80 

Four Corners 20 

Fowler Congregational Church .... 85 

Free delivery of mail 31 

Freemen's purchase 9 

Free text books 32, 81 



100 



French Canadians 30 

French Congregational Church .... 85 
Friends, denomination of.. 13, 19, 83 

Fulling Mill 12, 17, 58 

Gas introduced 24 

Goose-nesting Rock 3 

Globe Cotton Mill 52 to 55 

Globe, Daily 5, 40 

Globe Presbyterian Church 86 

Globe Print Works 23, 61, 62 

Globe Village 32 

Globe Yarn Mills 38, 40, 62, 63 

Grade crossings 43, 44 

Granite Block 22,58 

Granite Mills 28,40 

Granite Mills fire 37 

Granolithic sidewalks 48 

Great fire 21, 22 

Great lots 11 

' 'Great Vacation" 36 

Greene, William S 39, 41 

Green schoolhouse 23 

Grime, George 44, 45 

Grist Mills 12,17, 20, 58 

Gunn House 51 

Hancock, steamer 24 

Hargraves Mills 38, 40 

Harrison Street Chapel 82 

Hat Factory 38, 67 

Hawes, Marvel & Davol 68 

Hearse House 18 

Herald, Daily 5 

Higgins, Thomas F 50 

Highest elevations 1 

Highland road 31 

High School 23,38,50, 80 

High Street School 23, 80 

Home for Aged People 88 

Home Guard in Revolution 14 

Horseboat 34 

Hours of labor, early 59 

Hospitals 24, 34, 40,41,50,88 

Hugo A. Dubuque School 50 

Immaculate Conception Church. . . .85 

Incorporation of city 25 

Incorporation of town 15, 16 

Indian Reservation 13 



Indians 6 to 10 

Irene & Betsey, the <><> 

Irregularities of 1878-79 36,37 

Jackson, Amos M 42 

Jail, new 43 

Jennie Lind, steamer 66 

June Street School 23, 50, 80 

Kerr Thread Mills 38,62 

Kilburn, Lincoln & Co 63 

King Philip 6 

King Philip Mills 28, 32, 40 

King Philip, steamer 24, 65 

Lafayette Co-operative Bank 77 

Laurel Lake Mills 38, 40, 55, 58 

Lexington alarm, response to 14 

Lincoln Mfg. Co 40 

Lincoln School 23, 50 

L'Independant 5 

Lindsey, Crawford E 37 

Line Meeting House 17 

Maple Street School 80 

Marshall, James & Bros 67 

Marvel & Davol 68 

Massachusetts, steamer 24 

Massasoit 6 

Massasoit Bank 23, 38, 48, 75 

Massasoit Mfg. Co 59, 62, 63 

Massasoit Mill 18, 59 

Massasoit-Pocasset Bank ..48, 7;"), 76 

Massasoit Steam Mill 23, 59, 72 

Mechanics Mills 28 

Merchants Mfg. Co 28 

Metacomet 6 

Metacomet Bank 23, 38. 48, 76 

Metacomet Mill 23, 60, 63, 64 

Metacomet, steamer 24 

Methodist Churches 19, 22, 84, 86 

Metropolis, steamer 25, 35 

Mill right 11, 12 

Monitor, newspaper 18 

Montaup 7 

Montaup Mills 32 

Morgan Street School 31, 80 

Motto of city 25 

Mount Hope Avenue School 39 

Mount Hope, steamer 36 

Nankeen Mill 18, 58 



101 



Narragansett Mills 32, 40 

Narragansett Steamship Co. 35 

National Union Bank 48, 75 

Naval Brigade 42, 43 

N. B. Borden School 31 

Newport, railroad to 30 

Newport, steamer 35 

News, Daily 5 

Newspapers 5 

New York steamers 24, 34, 35 

Nimrod, schooner 67 

North Burial Ground 18 

North Christian Church 86 

North Main street widened 32 

North Park 39,45 

North Watuppa pond 1 

Notre Dame Church 85 

Oak Grove Cemetery 26 

Old Colony Steamboat Co 35 

Old Colony, steamer 24, 35 

Osborn Mills 32 

Osborn School 41 

Panic of 1857 27 

Park Commission 45 

Parks 4, 31, 33, 39, 45 

Parker Mills 40 

Parochial Schools 81 

People's Co-operative Bank ... .38, 77 

Piano Manufacturing 67 

Picking Machinery 57 

Pilgrim Congregational Church ... 85 

Pilgrim Mills 40 

Playgrounds 50 

Pleasant street 19, 30, 32 

Plymouth Colony 6 

Pocasset Bank 23, 48, 76 

Pocasset Indians 6 

Pocasset Mfg. Co ... . 18, 23, 58 to 61, 78 

Pocasset purchase 11 

Pocasset street 19 

Police 24,32,37,42,93 

Police Commission 43 

Poor sold by auction 16 

Population3, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19,25,31,37 
39, 43. 

Portuguese papers 5 

Postoffice 17, 31, 36 



Power, development of 71 to 74 

Power Looms 57 

Primitive Methodist Churches 83 

Print Cloths, first 58, 61 

Printing machines 19, 61 

Providence Line 20, 24, 35, 36 

Providence, steamer 35 

Public Library 4, 27, 41 

Purchase street 50 

Quarry Street M. E. Church 86 

Quequechan 7 

Quequechan River, improvement 

of 46, 47 

Quequechan Mill 61 

Quequeteant 7 

Railroads 25, 30, 34, 41, 43, 63 

Railroad stations 25, 43 

Reed, Milton 39 

Reorganized Church, L. D. S 86 

Reservoir Commission 42, 46, 47 

Revolution, history in 14 

Rhode Island, steamer 24 

Richard Borden Mfg. Co 32, 38 

Richard Borden, steamer 35 

Robeson Mills 28 

Robeson's Print Works .... 18, 59, 61 

Rock street 19 

Rolling Rock 3 

Roman Catholic { 1Q qi A a on f _ Q7 
Church f iy ' dl » 48 ' 8o t0 87 

Ruggles Park 45 

Sagamore 7 

Sagamore Mills 32, 38, 40 

Sacred Heart Church 85 

Sagkonate 7 

Ste. Anne's Church 85 

Ste. Anne's Hospital 88 

St. James' Church 86 

St. John's Church 86 

St. John's R. C. Chapel 19, 84 

St. Joseph's Church 85 

St. Joseph's Orphanage 87 

St. Louis' Church 85 

St. Luke's Church 86 

St. Mary's Church 31, 83, 84 

St. Mathieu's Church 86 

St. Patrick's Church 85 



102 



St. Paul's M. E. Church 31, 86 

SS. Peter's and Paul Church 85 

St. Stephen's Church 86 

St. Vincent's Orphanage 87 

St. William's Church 88 

Salvation Army 88 

Samuel Watson School 50 

Sanford Spinning Mill 40, 62 

Satinet Mill 18, 58 

Schools 13, 77 to 81 

Seaconnet Mills 38, 40 

Second Baptist Church 82 

Second National Bank 31, 48, 76 

Sewers 33 

Shipbuilding 65, 66 

Shove Mills 32,38, 40 

Six Score Acre Lots 11 

Skeleton in Armor 21 

Slade's Ferry 34 

Slade's Ferry Bridge 34 

Slade Mills 32 

Slade School 32 

Slater, Samuel 56, 57 

Sliding Scale 47, 49 

South Main street widened 32, 39 

South Park 31,33 

Spanish War 42 

Spindles 3, 31, 37, 38, 39, 43 

Spring street 19 

Sprinkling of streets 24, 41 

Stafford Mills 32, 38, 40 

Stage Lines 17 

Standard Fabric Co 40, 68 

Stang, Bishop 48 

State of Maine, steamer 25 

Stevens Mfg. Co 40 

Stocks, Town 13 

Store pay 61 

Street cars 37, 41 

Strike of 1904 47 

Summerfield M. E. Church 86 

Superior Court 36 

Superior Court House 42 

Tanks, Water Department 50 

Tanneries 12 

Teaser, steamer <>' : 

Tecumseh 7 



Tecumseh Mills 28, 38, 40 

Tehticut 6 

Telephone system 37 

Temperance societies 87 

Textile School 48 

Third Baptist Church 85 

Thorfinn 6 

Tiverton Print Works 55 

Toll Roads 30 

Tory sentiment 14 

Town Clock 19 

Town Hearse 18 

Town House 21,22 

Town Meeting, first 16 

Town stocks 13 

Training School 81 

Trinity Baptist Church 85 

Troy Co-operative Bank 38,77 

Troy C. & W. Manufactory 18, 55 to 
58, 63, 69, 71 

Troy, name, 1804-34 16 

Trust Company 75,76 

Turnpikes 30 

Union Cotton Factory 54, 55, 58 

Union Hospital 88 

Union Mill Co 28,40,72 

Union Savings Bank .... 31, 48, 75, 77 

Union street 19 

Unitarian Church 19, 78, 83 

United Presbyterian Church. . .31, 85 

United States, steamer 66 

Valuation 5, 17, 25, 31, 39, 43 

Verazzano 6 

Wages in early mills 57,60 

Wampanoag Indians 6 

Wampanoag Mills 32 

Wamsutta 6 

Wamsutta Bank 31, 7(5 

Wamsutta Woolen Mill 7:2 

War of 1812 17 

Warren, railroad to 30 

Washington street 19 

Wash wheels 21 

Water Lily, steamer 66 

Water Power 12, 71 

Water Works 33, 50 

I Watuppa 7 



103 



Watuppa Mill 18,59 

Watuppa Reservoir Co 68 to 71 

Weetamoe 6 

Weetamoe Mills 32, 40 

Weetamoe, steamer 34 

Westall School 50 

Whaling 25, 68 

White Mill 18, 58 

William J. Wiley School 50 



William Connell School 42 

William Marvel, steamer 67 

William S. Greene School 50 

Women's Union 87 

Wood slide 20 

Wyoming Mills 23 

Yellow Mill 58 

Young American, steamer 66 

Y. M. C. A 87 



104 



1811 



1911 



M E RG 1 1 ANTS M AM' FAGT1 IRERS 



COTTON CENTENNIAL CARNIVAL 

ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF THE 
BUILDING OF THE FIRST COTTON MILL IN FALL RIVER 

WEEK OF JUNE L9-24, 11)11 



MONDA Y. 
2.30 p.m. 

4.00 



TUESDAY. 

3.00 

8.00 



MANUFACTURERS DAY. 

Crowning of the Queen of the Carnival at 

City Hall by Mayor T. F. Higgins. 
Opening: 

Manufacturers Exposition, State Armory. 

Art Exhibit, Public Library. 

Cotton Manufacturing, Bradford Durfee 

Textile School. 
Historical Exhibit, Music Hall. 

AUTOMOBILE DAY. 

Automobile Parade. 

Fireworks Display at South Park. 



WEDNESDAY. FALL RIVER DAY. 
3.00 Trades Parade. 

TH URSDA Y. MERCHANTS DA Y. 
1.00 Horse Show, North Park. 

8.00 Grand Carnival Parade. 

FRIDAY. PRESIDENTS DAY. 

1.00 President Taft will visit the city. 

Evening. Grand Confetti Carnival. 

SA TURD A Y. A VIA TION DA Y. 

Water Carnival on Mount Hope Bay. 
Hydro-aeroplane Exhibition by Glenn H. Curtiss. 

105 



As a part of the observance of the centennial, a notable 
exhibit of the products of the various industries of the city 
has been arranged in the State Armory. The great drill hall 
has been most attractively decorated in blue, completely 
hiding the roof, and the same color has been used in the 
various booths, which are adorned with branches and oak 
leaves. In addition to the products themselves the processes 
of manufacture are illustrated in many cases by machinery in 
operation, showing the methods used in the making of hats, 
pianos, card clothing, the printing of calico, the fringing of 
quilts, as well as in the weaving of cloth on the most modern 
looms, etc. 

The processes of cotton manufacturing are chiefly shown 
in the textile school near the armory, where machinery of the 
same type as that used in the mills of the city, is in operation. 
In the same building is also shown the work of the students 
of the school produced from this machinery. 

An excellent art exhibit of pictures loaned by citizens has 
been arranged in the public library and also a display of work 
prepared in the public schools. 

In Music Hall is an interesting historical exhibit. 



106 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



!!!N 27 19M 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 069 710 2 




014 069 71 






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